Yellow Garden Spider in web with visible stabilimentum

submitted by Musky from i.imgur.com

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[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Looks cool, never seen one before a

[–]Musky[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

My first too. I believe it may be the largest spider I have ever seen in the wild. They're venomous, but unless you're allergic it's similar to a bee sting. It's a girl, because the males don't make webs iirc.

[–]Zapped 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Look around the area for more. When the babies leave the egg sac, they ride the wind, so they will land downwind. In my area, the wind usually blows from the southwest, so when we get a writing spider in our yard, we will see more for several years until the generations work their way across the property. This is my favorite spider. We had one in our yard when I was a kid and we would feed it small pieces of bologna.

[–]Musky[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I'll keep an eye out, it is a beautiful spider and the first of it's kind I've ever seen. Are they plentiful in your area?

[–]Zapped 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It is a common spider here, although I haven't seen any in my yard the past few years.