Banded Argiope

 Over the past year and a half I have begun an effort to add spiders to my photographic repertoire. This began in September of 2010 when I was out looking for dragonflies in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife refuge and I spotted something large and bright yellow in the field. As I approached to get a better look, and of course some pics, I found this banded argiope spider instead of a dragonfly.

 The banded argiope is a spider that is found in parts of North America and Europe. It is a member of the orbweaver family, and as with most orbweavers it spins a large intricate web. It uses the web to catch flying insects. Once caught in the web the spider will bite its prey to inject its venom. The venom paralyzes the prey and begins to dissolve its insides. The spider will then suck out the liquid proteins. The bite of the banded argiope is not dangerous to people. Spiders usually only bite people in self defense. So if you do not harass the spider chances are it will not bite you. This was definitely a female argiope as female spiders are usually three to five times the size of their male counterparts.   

Banded Argiope

The banded argiope spider, Argiope trifascianta, is a large spider that is found through out North America, as well as many other places around the world. As a member of the orb weaver family of spiders, Araneidae, their eye site is not as good so they spin large orb shaped webs in the tall grass.
I took these pictures in September of 2010 at the Minnesota Valley Refuge. I was looking for dragonflies and spotted the bright yellow color in the grass. Due to their bright yellow color they are often called the yellow garden argiope. Usually you do not see these spiders until the fall. Up to 10,000 spider hatch from the egg sack during the summer but they stay hidden until fall when they are large enough to protect themselves and mate.