Zigzag spider

Description:

This spider made it's nest in between a Mustang grapevine plant. This one here is a male, which displays a smaller size, and amount of yellow that is on the abdomen. The females are yellow and black, while the males vary in color, from a transparent green, to transparent white colors. Female Argiope aurantia spiders tend to be somewhat local, often staying in one place, nearby the males throughout much of their lifetime. The web of the yellow garden spider is distinctive: a circular shape up to 2 feet (60 cm) in diameter, with a dense zigzag of silk, known as a stabilimentum, in the center. The purpose of the stabilimentum is disputed. It is possible that it acts as camouflage for the spider lurking in the web's center, but it may also attract insect prey, or even warn birds of the presence of the otherwise difficult-to-see web.

Habitat:

Found on a Vitis mustangensis vine In my garden, Fort Worth, Texas.

Notes:

Their venom often contains a library of polyamine toxins. They only bite if they are provoked.