I live in n.w. ga and have run across several black spiders with yellow markings n the back. 2inlong?

Question

I live in n.w. ga and have run across several black spiders with yellow markings n the back. 2inlong?

Answer 1

Garden spider

http://www.flickr.com/photos/guano/46141...

Answer 2

Learn to ID  it with the help of these sites and even if you do not find what you are looking for you will be able to ID any bug in the future -

http://bugguide.net/node/view/1954

http://www.arachnology.be/pages/Pictures...

http://www.spideridentification.org/

Answer 3

Sounds like the extremely cool Golden garden spider, Argiope aurantia. Found mostly in open gardens, extremely beneficial and harmless. The eggs hatch in the Fall but the spiderlings overwinter in the egg case and emerge in the Spring. One of my favorite spiders!

See link below for pics of A. aurantia. (Scroll down to Reproduction)

Answer 4

Isn't it amazing how many different common names there are for some spiders.  In the orb weaver family Araneidae aka Argiopidae there are a number of large yellow and black weaversThe Argiopinae or garden spiders frequently construct it web in grass and have a zig-zag pattern in the center of the web. Some Argiopes have banded yellow and black while in others the yellow sploches is less organized.  The common names differ more from the region to region than from species to species.

Answer 5

Sounds like a writing spider.

They're named writing spiders, because in the center of their web there's usually a thicker 'squiggle' that looks like it could be some kind of writing.  Folklore says that if you find somebody's name in their web writing, that person will die that day.