Fauna
Arachnid

Banded Garden Spider

Argiope trifasciata

Also known as Banded Yellow Garden Spider, Banded Orbweaver, Three-banded Garden Spider

Banded garden spiders build large, vertical orb webs among tall grasses and garden foliage to catch flying insects. Females feature striking silvery-white carapaces and abdomens cross-striped with thin black, yellow, and white bands, while the much smaller males remain inconspicuously near web margins. Towards autumn, females attach teardrop-shaped egg sacs containing hundreds of eggs to nearby vegetation before dying with the first hard frost.

Orb-weaverDiurnalBeneficial Insectivore
Banded Garden Spider reference1 / 7
(c) Katja Schulz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by
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Not EvaluatedConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXNot Evaluated — not placed on the risk ladderRed List categories, explained →
Key facts
Diet & preyGrasshoppers, Flies, Bees
Predators
  • Birds
  • Lizards
  • Parasitic Wasps
ThreatsPesticides, intensive mowing, habitat destruction
HabitatsFields, meadows, gardens, open tall-grass prairies
Life span1 year
Classification
  1. OrderAraneae
  2. FamilyAraneidae
  3. GenusArgiope
  4. SpeciesArgiope trifasciata
Range & activity
Range data is not available yet.
Safe observation
Interaction riskLow
  1. Low
  2. Moderate
  3. High
  4. Very high
Why interaction risk is low
Safe to observe at a normal distance.
Responsible observation
  • Observe Webs: Look for the characteristic silk zig-zag pattern called a stabilimentum built into the center of the web.
  • Give Space: Avoid disturbing the web so the spider does not expend vital energy rebuilding it.
  • Search Late Summer: Look among goldenrod and tall garden stems during late summer and early autumn.
Related species
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