SPIDERS IN THE GARDEN

This great little (and growing bigger everyday) spider and it's buddies can be found growing in several areas around the Arboretum.  It can grow up to 3 inches from leg tip to leg tip. As with most spiders, it is a welcome site in the garden.  Spiders are generally considered to be beneficial in gardens as they don't eat plants, but do dine on plant eating insects.  From the NCSU Entomology Notes comes this information:

Yellow Garden Spider  The yellow garden spider, Argiope aurantia is one of the araneid or "orb weaver" spiders that builds the widely recognize  circular spider web in which they snare their prey. Argiope aurantia is a common, distinctively colored (black and yellow), large spider that is frequently seen in the Fall in gardens, yards and along roadsides. The female (shown here) builds a web that has a conspicuous zig-zag band of white silk in the center of the web. For this reason, these spiders are often called "writing" spiders. For more information about spiders in your garden, read  Common Spiders in the Landscape.