After posting the photos of what I believed to be "banana spiders", I found out that I had been misinformed as to their identity.
Although the webs around the pond may appear somewhat "scary", the spiders are actually considered "beneficial" to gardeners.
Looking from the back porch towards the pond, it looks like someone has hung ropes and netting from the holly trees to the iris.
On closer look, (remember to click on the photos to enlarge), how many spiders do you see?
Look one more time, this time look for the zig zag, the "scribble", the "writing".
These spiders are not banana spiders. They are "scribblers" or "writing spiders", official name is Argiope aurantia - Black and yellow argiope.
The scribble is so obvious and the spider appears so ominous.
This photo and the next are to give you some perspective as to the size of these beauties.
Her abdomen is the size of the top of my thumb! Now that I know that these spiders are "beneficial", I appreciate them even more than I did before. However, I still don't want to have one crawling on me...
Although the webs around the pond may appear somewhat "scary", the spiders are actually considered "beneficial" to gardeners.
Looking from the back porch towards the pond, it looks like someone has hung ropes and netting from the holly trees to the iris.
On closer look, (remember to click on the photos to enlarge), how many spiders do you see?
Look one more time, this time look for the zig zag, the "scribble", the "writing".
These spiders are not banana spiders. They are "scribblers" or "writing spiders", official name is Argiope aurantia - Black and yellow argiope.
The scribble is so obvious and the spider appears so ominous.
This photo and the next are to give you some perspective as to the size of these beauties.
Her abdomen is the size of the top of my thumb! Now that I know that these spiders are "beneficial", I appreciate them even more than I did before. However, I still don't want to have one crawling on me...I promise some flower pictures in my next post.
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