Banded Garden Spider
Description: The females of this species are fairly large, like the similar but larger Black and Yellow garden spiders. Males are small, brown, and eat little. They appear in the females web, often several (I've seen as many as five in one web).
Web: Large orb web, similar to that of the Black and Yellow Garden Spider, sharing the characteristic zigzag pattern radiating from the center. Built between weeds and grasses or shrubs.
Habitat: Grassy or weedy areas such as roadsides, meadows, and gardens. Their numbers are higher in uncut grasslands and at field edges.
Diet: When young, the bulk of their diets is leaf-hoppers and small flying insects. As they mature grasshoppers and larger flying insects such as moths, beetles (frequently captures Japanese Beetles), flies and grasshoppers.
Eggs: In late September they lay papery egg sacs in foliage usually near their webs.
Web: Large orb web, similar to that of the Black and Yellow Garden Spider, sharing the characteristic zigzag pattern radiating from the center. Built between weeds and grasses or shrubs.
Habitat: Grassy or weedy areas such as roadsides, meadows, and gardens. Their numbers are higher in uncut grasslands and at field edges.
Diet: When young, the bulk of their diets is leaf-hoppers and small flying insects. As they mature grasshoppers and larger flying insects such as moths, beetles (frequently captures Japanese Beetles), flies and grasshoppers.
Eggs: In late September they lay papery egg sacs in foliage usually near their webs.
