The Writin’ Spider

Mowing the grass around my garden, right beside the shed, I spied a “spidey”. The large, almost 2’ body length, and vivid, orange, black and white coloration, made my identification easy. A Garden Spider, probable better known as a Writing Spider, Argiope Aurantia, in Texas, better known as a Writin’ Spider.

These large guys aren’t dangerous to humans and build their nests in and around gardens and use their webs to catch insects attracted to the garden. A Writin’ Spider will usually make one egg sack and then dies before winter.

WritinSpiderWeb

It’s easy to see how the heavy portion of the web looks like writing. I wanted to get a picture of the Writin’ Spider on the “written” portion, but when the lawn mower approached, the spider retreated to the upper part of its web. Since the Writin’ Spider is one of the garden’s good guys, I ceased all mowing operations in the vicinity of its web.

However, I can’t mention this sighting or the location to Layla, because 8 years ago, she was bitten by a Black Widow Spider, and still hasn’t forgotten her painful recovery and 3 day ordeal in the hospital! Now, she is quite insensitive toward ALL spiders!