Feeding Habits of the Female Garden Spider

Male and Female

• Garden spiders go by such common names as jumping garden spider; wolf garden spider; sac garden spider; and the northwestern brown garden spider, also known as the hobo garden spider. Even the feared Tarantula is part of the Araneidae family, though in reality this large invertebrate does not weave a web and produces little venom, just a painful bite from its large teeth. Argiope aurantia, or golden garden spider, is the largest of garden orb weavers, with the female being about three times larger than the male. The central body of the female can grow to over an inch long.

Web

• Garden orb weavers have perfected the art of spinning webs to the point they can construct an effective web with minimum amount of actual material. They often place their large concentric bands of silklike material in open fields and near gardens, though sometimes orb weavers use the eave of a house or barn. The webs remain in place during the night, often providing food for the next day.

Diet

• Spiders are not vegetarians, and the yellow garden spider is no exception. This arachnid uses its web to capture butterflies, grasshoppers, aphids, bees, wasps, flies and other flying insects. The large size of the female garden spider enables it to consume larger insects than the male. The male of this species dies immediately after fertilization, at which time he becomes food for his spouse. However, research that the Royal Society of London conducted suggests his death is a spontaneous result of copulation and not predatory.

Feeding Habits

• The golden garden spider is noted for wrapping its victims in a blanket of freshly spun silk, and injecting the prey with venom. This spider will then wait for one to four hours before consuming the luckless creatures. These spiders are most active during the day, where they often hang upside down in the web waiting for their dinner guests. The life cycle of the yellow and black garden spider only lasts about a year, as both genders will die off before winter arrives. Eggs that are laid every fall hatch the following spring.