what kind of spider and will it kill me??

[jthread]

went out to my gf pond to clean out the frog mating uck and saw this:

is bigger in person.

i'm awake now

[dicko]

Its a Black & Yellow Argiope, a fairly common spider. Impressive but harmless. As kids we used to catch bugs and throw them into the web to watch the spider do its thing.

-dickm

[jthread]

this one is very impressive. he's about 8" streached out. right now he's sucking the life out of a grasshopper or something. freakin cool lokin spidey

[Clark]

That is an impressive spider!

Clark

[dicko]

Actually, its a "she". I believe that zig zag web through the main web is spun by the male who then ends up as a tasty meal after doing his husbandly duty.

-dickm

[willshak]

So are we all. :-)

[Lar]

I've always heard that there have been experiments showing that birds can see and will avoid the web so as to not accidentally fly into it and destroy it. It is also thought that it may reflect ultraviolet light aiding in attracting insects as well as just an aid to stabilize the web.

Lar

[Red]

Not always. There have been several cases reported of hummingbirds getting caught and dying in those type webs. They're just not big enough to break free.

Red