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Araneidae—Orbweavers |
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Agelenidae—Funnel Weavers Amaurobiidae—Hackledmesh Weavers Araneidae—Orbweavers Clubionidae—Sac Spiders Dysderidae—Dysderid Spiders Lycosidae—Wolf Spiders Miturgidae—Prowling Spiders Pisauridae—Nursery Web Spiders Pholcidae—Cellar or Daddylonglegs Spiders Salticidae—Jumping Spiders Sicariidae—Sixeyed Sicariid Spiders Theridiidae—Cobweb Weavers Photographs courtesy of Steven Jacobs. Prepared by Steven Jacobs, |
These are some of the largest and showiest of the spiders commonly encountered in Pennsylvania. They are seen in gardens, tall weeds, and sunny areas with bushes and other supporting structures on which they build their large orb webs. Yellow garden spiders are found throughout most of the United States. Description Yellow garden spider females range in length from 19 to 28 millimeters. The carapace is covered with silver hairs, and the eight eyes are procurved with the lateral four eyes nearly joined and seated upon two projections or humps on either side of the front of the carapace. The second, third, and fourth pair of legs are black with the femora yellow to red. The front legs are frequently entirely black. The abdomen is an elongated oval that is pointed to the rear, notched in front, patterned yellow and black, and has two anterior humps or shoulders. The males are 5 to 8 millimeters in length and their legs are lighter in color than those of the females. The immature spiders have banded legs. The egg cocoons are deposited in the late summer and are spherical, brown papery sacs. The web is large (50- to 100-centimeter diameters are not uncommon) and orientated vertically with a white, zigzag stripe down the center, which is called the stabilimentum. The exact function of this structure is unclear.
In early spring, the spiderlings, numbering from 500 to 1,000, will emerge from the cocoon. Many of them will succumb to cannibalism and predation from mud-dauber wasps. Those that do survive are usually unnoticed by humans until they reach maturity in the late summer. Medical Importance Although these large, showy spiders sometimes cause alarm to individuals who are uncomfortable with spiders, they are not known to be medically important. People are not likely to be bitten unless they handle a female with an egg cocoon in the web. Even then, the bite would likely cause no more discomfort for most individuals than a wasp or bee sting.
Authored by: Steve Jacobs, Sr. Extension Associate March
2002 ©
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Yellow Garden Spider 
Life History/Behavior