Yellow Garden Spider

Argiope aurantia, commonly known as the yellow garden spider along with many other names including the black and yellow garden spider, golden garden spider, and writing spider, is a species of spider first described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1833. It is common across the contiguous United States, Hawaii, southern Canada, Mexico, and Central America, and is recognized by its distinctive yellow and black abdomen and mostly white cephalothorax. Males range from 5 to 9 millimeters in body length while females range from 19 to 28 millimeters, with an average female body mass of about 752 milligrams. Its scientific name translates to gilded silver-face, and although it may bite if disturbed, its venom is harmless to non-allergic humans, roughly comparable to a bumblebee sting.