Monster Spider Gets Pig!....

Not really, But, It sure looks like it in this photo, Especially close up! It looks like the head of a pig thats hanging down...

Closer View...

That's a lovely spider. It is the Black & Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/22378/bgimage

Kennedyh, Thankyou for the link and up-date on what kind it is, I usually have quite a few of these around the gardens at this time of year and I think they are such a pretty and interesting spider!

I have NEVER seen one before. What an interesting design upon her back!!

I'm glad I'd come upon this thread a little while back because two days ago I glanced into my garden and saw three of these guys hanging on their webs. I usually have plenty of little brown spiders and daddy-long-legs around but have never seen these huge ones before! I'm kind of glad to see them and hope that they're munching on whatever has been mangling my peppers, but I think I'll start wearing leather gardening gloves. I don't want to accidentally put my bare hand down of one of these guys!

Edfinny, Yes it is a neat design, To me, They are one of the prettiest spiders around.
...McCool, Glad to know that you have some in your yard too, I usually have at least about 5 of these around the yard, But, This year, I have only found one and something must have gotten it because it's been missing from it's web.
Seems there hasn't been all that many daddy long legs around either ( Just a few) Plenty of brown spiders though,
and a lot of frogs and toads ! I noticed many times that the frogs come out of the pond in the evening and travel about the lawn and gardens in search of food, Of course the toads do this also, I tend to think sometimes that thats what happened to some of the spiders, Then there are some garder snakes that are always in the garden and by the pond and there always after the smaller frogs, Seems like a never ending cycle over here. I tend to worry a bit when I see the garder snake around the pond because I'm always thinking he's going to eat some of the baby goldfish in the pond, But, He keeps passing them by, I guess maybe they know enough to stay on the deep side when he's around.
I wonder whats been after your peppers?
That can get quite annoying to see that something's been munching on them! I hope the spiders help you out with that problem. My peppers are doing good so far ( I have mine in pots) And there just about ready for picking, I think I should pick some soon before something gets them.
Leather gardening gloves are a good idea, I've had spiders on my hands before while working in the gardens, But have never gotten bitten (yet, Theres always a yet) You know how it is when your outside and think to yourself, Well I'll just pick a few weeds and such and it goes on from there and you don't put your gloves on lol. I must say, Most creatures of the garden don't bother me too much at all, But, But Bee's ( yellow jackets) Are a whole other story!!! This is the first year in I don't know how long that I haven't gotten stung, And hope I finish the year that way!
What kind of damage do you have on your peppers? Is the pepper itself damged or is something eating the leaves??
You got a nice pic of your Spider, Here's some of a couple of the gardner Snakes here, Do you have many gardner snakes in your yard?

These guys like to hang out in the trees and shrubs sometimes, This particular one is ready to shed it's skin

This is a pic I had for a while of a black racer snake that comes around, Unfortunately, Baby birds are on his menue so I chase him off whenever I see him by a nest.
http://www.wtv-zone.com/irislynx/Snake/snake-black-racer.jpg

Hi Iris,

Yup, I've got at least one garter snake on the premises. I've startled it (and vice-versa) a few times over near my Jerusalem artichokes and found it coiled up in the daylily/bittersweet tangle one day. My husband has fits if he sees one. Good thing we've never had a black racer around the yard. One of them crossed our path on a nature trail down on the Cape a couple of years ago and my husband nearly had hysterics.

I wish I knew what the problem is with the peppers. I grew regular bell peppers and a new variety (new to me, I mean) called Tequila Sunrise from seed and when I set out the seedlings nearly all the bell peppers croaked. I bought a flat of King of the North bell peppers and put them in. They were nice big plants, but they started losing all their lower leaves. I don't generally fertilize much around the peppers since I'm afraid of getting all foliage and no peppers that way, but this time I thought maybe they were missing something crucial in their diet so went ahead and gave them some fertilizer. The leaves are still turning yellow or brown around the edges and falling off, but the plants are starting to produce some new leaves at the bottom. Only one of the plants has produced a pepper so far and they even seem reluctant to bloom. Meanwhile, the Tequila Sunrise (supposed to be a sweet pepper with a little kick to it) plants seem to be doing fine in the same area. They were a little behind since the plants were smaller when they went into the garden, but now they're blooming and setting fruit right and left. The tomatoes are thriving too. I'm just stumped!

H McCool, It is kinda scarry when your not thnking about them and then one catches your eye thats close to you! As you said, It's a visa/versa thing, Sometimes you scare them, But they can scare the daylights out of you too! The Black Racer will sometimes challenge you if you try to chase it off, It's so strange that it actually makes a sound just like a rattle snake does with it's rattle. I see your husband is one of those kind of people who have a bit of a phobia about snakes lol, Many people do.
Do you belong to the Audobon Society or do the nature trails often?
Sometimes when plants start to do the yellowing and dying at the leaves it's hard to figure out what the problem is, It's very fustrating! You don't think you over-fertiliized do you? Sometimes that will definately cause what your saying they are doing, But, It could also be a lot of other things, I know how you feel, And it's hard when you can't pin-point it! I've never heard of the Tequilla Sunrise peppers, But I'm happy to hear that they are doing good for you! I have the Bell peppers and they are in pots that don't have the greatest soil and I fertilize them just about every other time I water them and they are doing just great! I got about 12 really nice peppers out there now in the pots, Had I put them in the ground, I know I would have gotten a lot more but I was doing it as sort of a trial test, Someone had given us a few pepper starts and I had no where to put them so I put them in pots, But, For what little space they have in there, They have done quite well, They even kep producing more and more flowers. But seeing the others are all good sized I don't think I'll be getting much more from them this year.
Our tomatoes are thriving also ( Again, Also in pots, We plan on having a descent sized vegetable garden next year)
You could try posting about the leaf problem your having with your peppers in a couple of the other forums, Usually someone will have a good idea of what the problem would be and maybe how to fix it, Or, At least you'll have a good idea of what to do if it happens again in the future. It just seems so odd that you have plants in the same area that are doing so well but the other ones are having the yellowing/brown edge problem.

Hehehe that's hysterical Iris...it really does look like a pig!
Did you get to watch the snake molt? We find snake skins all over the yard. It seems they plow under bushes or into the grass roots to aid in shedding their skins

Hi all,

In answer to your questions, Iris, no I'm not an Audubon member (YET). It's one of those things I mean to do one of these days. I was a member of a local "greenways" association but found that their trail clearings and outings were always at times when I couldn't possibly attend. My mother is an Audubon member and there is an Audubon area with trails about 1/2 mile away from our house, but we haven't made it there yet! The day we had planned to go it was threatening to storm. Oh well, someday. It's hard to get my husband to go anywhere like that. (Too much green makes him cower. He'd rather live in the middle of London. Yech!)

I've thought of trying to get some help with the peppers elsewhere on the forum but have so far been unable to get a decent picture of any. There's too much else in the way (like the grass I haven't weeded out lately).

I surprised the biggest garter snake I've ever seen yesterday in the wood patch. He took off while I did one of those one-footed clog dances. I'm just glad that I didn't lose my balance. I'm sure that if I'd fallen I would've found one of the patches of poison ivy that I haven't been able to get rid of yet.

Also found a couple more of those big spiders and didn't have my gloves on either. I'm amazed that they just sit there on their webs when I water the garden. I guess water doesn't bother them.

Floridian, I see the snakes quite often but rarely find any of the shed skins, I dont know where they are going to shed but it's got to be someplace thats well hidden from sight.
...McCool, A Audobon thats only half mile away? ~I'd love to have one that close! I don't know how much you enjoy birds and wildlife, but in my area, They have a lot thats coming up, Bird Banding, Nighthawk migration, meteor shower watch, Wildlife video ect. They have some great trails with a couple of blinds over looking a pond, There are a lot of different water birds on/around the pond! Nice to go there in the early morning/evening with a coffee and just sit and watch all the activity.
~ (Too much green makes him cower. He'd rather live in the middle of London. Yech!) ~ LOL!!!! I guess I'm lucky that my hubby enjoys pretty much all that I like to do.
I know exactly what you mean about certain things being in the way of a decent photo, Got 'Lots' of those things here!
Did you surprise the big garder snake, Or, Did he surprise you???? ~I see he got you to perform a dance! LOL!
It seems the plants you want to grow, You have to work at, But the ones you don't ( Per say Poison Ivy) Are almost unstoppable!
Do you find that most of the big spiders are in tall perenials?
Watering doesn't bother at all, But, when you think about it, They have to endure the outside elements, Which one would be a good pouring rain, Which reminds me, Have you gotten much rain lately?? We have have been Sooo dry here its actually starting to worry me! Seems everytime there is any rain coming through, It tends to miss our area!! We had a 'Small' rainstorm the other day but it wasn't enough to even water the plants good! We have a stream that runs through our yard and even thats dried up!!

Yep that be a "Garden Writer Spider" common name. Those are very helpful to your garden and they are just plan cool! An old wife tale (Not that I know any old wifes in case mine reads this) went that if it wrote your name you would die by sundown. Good thing spiders can't write huh?

Later
Dave

Dave, I did a search on 'Garden Writer Spider' but came up with nothing, Are you sure thats the 'common name'? And yes, It 'is' a good thing spiders can't write LOL!!

Using just writing spider on Google you get lots of hits for Argiope aurantia
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=WRITING+SPIDER

Well hmmm, it's the common name around here, that's what we've always called them. Maybe a regional name. It is also known as ...
Argiope aurantia, Yellow Argiope, Golden Garden Spider, Golden Writer Spider and the conjuntion name Garden Writer Spider.

Hope this helps.

More info here ... http://www.naturalsciences.org/funstuff/notebook/inverts/golden_garden_spider.html

Later
Dave

This message was edited Aug 12, 2005 12:42 PM

I'd love to know where the ones in my garden came from. I'd never seen one in the ten or so years we've been living there and then one morning, bingo, there they all were as though they'd parachuted in during the night. Hey, Iris, maybe all your missing spiders decided to head north to try for cooler weather and ended up here. So far all the ones I've seen have been in or over my vegetable plants. I haven't gone looking for any in the small perennial garden in front, but they're big enough to be pretty obvious so I assume they just prefer the veggie garden. As for being rained on ---- I just thought that they might go hide under a leaf or something if it was coming down hard.

We've had a lack of rain lately as well, though the air has had a lot more moisture in it than we'd like! I've been having to water the plants quite a bit lately, but hesitate to run the water for long periods as I'm afraid of draining the well. Our well water is pretty awful, full of iron and manganese, but so far it's never run dry. One year we forgot to turn the water off before leaving for work and when we got home I couldn't figure out at first what was wrong with my garden as it looked funny. The whole thing was rusty! It actually killed off a lot of the leaves on all of my plants.

I'd say that the snake and I were equally surprised. It looked at least an inch in diameter and I've never seen a garter snake that big before. I guess my attempts at making the yard as wildlife friendly as possible have been paying off. I'm glad that the deer keep a good distance from my garden though --- not sure how I'd deal with that kind of problem.

I'm sure our local Audubon has a lot of things going on too. Being self-employed doesn't tend to leave a lot of time for other things.

Floridian, Your right, Thank's! I just gave it a quick shot when I tried and I should have left the 'garden' out. Thanks also for posting the link!
...Dave, You 'were right', I just shouldn't have included the 'garden' when I googled it ( Live and learn, If there is a way to goof it up the first time, I'll always find it! lol) ~Thank's for the info and the link!
...McCool, Gimme back my spiders!!! LOL! Actually, You don't live all that far from me as I'm right on the Mass/RI/CT border.
It's interesting to know that they are in your veggie garden, I've always had them where the loosestrife grows and where the torch lillys grow and no where else. I remember when I was just a young-in, Our niehbors had a huge stone wall and they always had alot of these spiders nesting on the wall. I have stone walls here, but have never seen the spiders on them.
You know, I've noticed the spiders don't move much when they are watered on, But, I now wonder if they move at all when its 'Really Pouring' out.
This dry weather sure doesn't do the wells any good at all, We have a well also and I have cut back on watering for the same reason as you, Though we have never run out of water, I try to keep the watering at a minimum while it's so dry like this!
I had left the water running by accident one time when I was filling my fish pond, I was gone for hours but when I got back and realized I had left it on, It was still running strong, I was surprised it didn't run out and was also surprised that none of the fish went over the edge of the pond! ~ Then again, This happened at a time when it wasn't dry like it is now.
So sorry to hear that the rust had killed the leaves off your plants, That must have been a shocking sight when you had seen the rust, Your well must have been close to empty when you were getting all that rust.
Do you have what is called 'Hard Water'?
I've seen some good sized snakes here also, In the beginnng, I didn't think they got that big either, I must have been seeing younger ones when I was a kid because they are a lot bigger now then what I remembered them as being.
I've done the same as you and done mostly 'Gardeing For Wildlife', It has paid off ten fold through the years but has its drawbacks also, We 'Do' get plenty of deer here and I use a motion detection sprayer to keep them out of the garden, Which for the most part works well, but, I have to wait to catch where they are at before I set up the dectector, And by that time, They have allready chomped something and it's usually 'Always' the Hosta's, Though they have chomped some of the evergreen bushes before too. Right now as I'm righting this, I checked my infrared camera and found I have a raccoon eating a chicken carcass I put out so I'm going to watch him for a while ... Heres a pic ...

McCool, Sorry to have not finished writing, I wanted to see the raccoon was going to do out there, I trying documented tapes so I needed some time to get the tape going, Anyways, It is hard to do the outdoor activities when you are self employed or just plain have a lot to do, I try to fit it in every chance I have, but, I do end up missing a lot of it..
Heres another pic of the coon, I reallyenjoy watching the creatures of the night...

I was out in the garden today pulling weeds (not that I have any :-P)and what did I find not one but two Writer Spiders living side by side under the grape arbor (with no grapes) One was big and fat and the other was thin and skinny so we named them Abott and Costello. Even got some pic of Costello catching a bug if anyone wants to see them. So without further ado, ladies and gentalmen ... ABBOTT and COSTELLO!!!!

This message was edited Aug 13, 2005 7:20 PM

ABBOTT and COSTELLO, LOL!!!!
It's seems odd that the fat one has skinny legs and the skinny one has fat legs! Always different sights in the 'Bug World'! Great photo's, I enjoyed seeing them, Thanks!

One is a beer drinker and the other eats ice cream ... LOL

Beer's fattening and ice cream is too, So which ones the beer drinker and which the ice-crem eater??? lol
I'd have to say, The fat one with the skinny legs would be the beer drinker and the other the ice-cream eater, Would that be right??

YOu are correct, beer gut which I have and ice cream legs which the ... oh never mind.

LOL!!!

All the ones you are seeing are Females. The males are tiny little brown guys that just hang out in the general vicinity till the female decides that it's 'time'. After their tryst, she kills and eats him.

An interesting bit of lore....these are supposed to be the spider that inspired Charlotte's Web.

I've had them for years...mine are all Cindy...named each year for one we fed grasshoppers to as children.

I had a pair like that in the garden too, didn't realize that the ones we were seeing were all female, so my husband came out with the theory that the skinny one was a male and the fat one was "pregnant". I don't know if we'll see any more of these this season as we had a BIG thunderstorm yesterday. It seemed that we got all the rain we've been missing for the past two or three weeks all in one go. The tomato cage where the "fat" spider was hanging out went over and all I found was a shred of web with a leftover insect in it. We'll have to wait and see whether or not the spiders build new webs in the garden once the rain stops.

These spiders all build new webs every night. They eat the old one and spin a new one...she's probably nearby.

Along toward the end of the season as they feel their lives coming to a close, they simply repair and go on, unless a storm or something destroys it...but they take great pride in their neat webs...she's there somewhere.

Thanks for all the info Melody, You sure seem to know a lot about these spiders, It's too bad Cindy couldn't have been the same cindy through the years but it's nice how childhood memories last!

I've researched the Writing Spider a bit, but I'm by no means an expert...they appeal to me despite my severe arachniphobia. I enjoy my generations of Cindys quite a bit.

For some strange reason, these spiders have been given pet names all oveer the country, and there are several blogs out there with the day to day happenings around the spider web.....for something as disliked as a species..these beautiful spiders have spun webs in the corners of many folks' hearts.

I think one of he reasons being, That they are such a Beautiful Spider and they seem so peacefull!