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View Full Version : The year of the Argiope



Ken Garlock
07-18-2004, 9:48 PM
It seems that this year we have a great number of the Black and Yellow legged Argiope spiders.(pronounced like saying the letters R G O P in rapid succession.) They are the garden orb web weavers. In the center of their web they weave a series of interconnected "Z"s which is said to alert birds to the web, and thus to avoid it. I watched one through our den window as it made its web. They are extremely accurate, I would bet that there wasn't .005" variance in distance between adjacent circles in the web. They are fun to watch, but a quick count around the house and shop totaled 8 webs.

The other day I caught a grasshopper and placed in the the web about 3" from the spider. Zoom, she came down and then wrapped it in silk. The wrapping only took about 5 seconds to complete the job. I think she also bit the hopper, latter in the day she was there sucking on the corpse. Like all spiders, they are venomous, but harmless to humans.

One observation is that there is no future in being a mail Argiope. After several days of slowly approaching the larger female, he gets his kicks and ends up being lunch for the female.

So far this summer we haven't had any card carrying, union member, Tarantulas around. Last year one came up on the patio, and was soon dispatched with some wasp and hornet spray. Now those dudes are Ugly. :(

Aaron Koehl
07-19-2004, 11:53 AM
Man, I'm glad I live in VA (except for that black widow bite I posted about last August).
Any pictures?

Ken Garlock
07-19-2004, 12:37 PM
Man, I'm glad I live in VA (except for that black widow bite I posted about last August).
Any pictures?

Yes, those BWs are something to watch out for. I had one take up residence at the top of a window on the front porch last year. It took a lot of wasp & hornet stray to do the old girl in. We also have some of the brown recluse in this part of the country, but thank goodness I have seen any around. My position is to kill the big three on site: BW, BR, and Trant.

It is much more fun to watch the Purple Martins raise their brood in the houses out back. :) Martins must be he most graceful birds on wing.

I had thought about some pix, guess I will have to get out the dig. cam.

Jim Becker
07-19-2004, 3:46 PM
We haven't seen any Argiope spiders this year on our property, but had a couple of real doozies last year. I did see a nice large spider in Barbados last week, pictured below. About 2" across the longest distances between "feet".

Paul Downes
07-19-2004, 3:53 PM
I can stand just about anything but, I hate spiders. I have both the black and yellow and the brown garden spiders hanging on and in my pole barn shop. I switched one of my doors to a windowless type after getting my face webbed for the umteenth time trying to enter the barn in the dark.
LDD (liquid dish detergent) and water kills most bugs in a matter of 10-30 seconds. I mix 1/4 cup LDD to a half gallon in my small hand pump sprayer. I have killed spiders in many ways. WD-40 and a match make a ready flame thrower. ....But I quit doing that after considering what would happen in a burn back. I had an old BB gun that worked great if you muzzle load sand down the barrel. Those spiders do bleed to death. Also had a .22 cal Pellet gun that would shoot alfalfa rabbet pellets. Just aim at the bug and if you hit within an inch or two the pellet shards would spatter the bugs! Rubber bands work O.K. but it's no fun reusing them with spider gook on them.
I really don't mind spiders being around, I just don't like them around me.

Dick Parr
07-19-2004, 3:57 PM
It seems Paul has the right idea! :p :D :p I can relate to the BB gun methods. :rolleyes: Been there done that. :D :D

David Klink
07-20-2004, 1:57 AM
We haven't seen any Argiope spiders this year on our property, but had a couple of real doozies last year. I did see a nice large spider in Barbados last week, pictured below. About 2" across the longest distances between "feet".
Jim, my first wife was from Barbados. By any chance, was this venomous creature's name Sonia?:)

Jim Becker
07-20-2004, 8:17 AM
Jim, my first wife was from Barbados. By any chance, was this venomous creature's name Sonia?
I should have asked the smaller male on the next web...but he was somewhat tied up...:p

David Klink
07-20-2004, 10:38 AM
I should have asked the smaller male on the next web...but he was somewhat tied up...:p
Yep...That's Sonia all right.:D