Bobbie - Argiope spiders are pretty harmless. They can probably bite, but I've never actually heard of one biting someone. They aren't poisonous. The young will emerge from the egg case in a few months. They're very tiny when they first emerge. Most of them are eaten by insects, birds, etc... so only a very few usually survive. As for the mother spider, I suspect that a lot of them become weak and are eventually eaten by insects such as a number of species of wasps that feed on spiders, or capture spiders to feed to their larvae.
Bobbie Johnson
27-Aug-2007 04:20
I first found my argiope on the top section of a tomato plant. I left the spider alone and it disappeared in a couple days - appearing between the swamp cooler and the side of the garage. I had company at the time and we watched it, identified it and continued to watch her. She was close to 3 inches from tip of legs to tips of legs. Several days later she made the egg sac and now, two weeks later there is another egg sac located under the swamp cooler. She was around for a couple days after the second egg sac appeared and now she has been missing - today (sunday) is the 6th day missing. I presume she has gone off to die. Where do spiders go to die?? Do they just drop to the ground?? Do they go off and hide?? How many babies should I expect?? I sure don't want to share my garden and garage with these spiders. Are they harmless?? The web seems to be sticky - almost as sticky as a black widow web.
