Spiders of North Carolina

Arachnids of North Carolina

Order:
Scientific Name: Common Name:		Family (Alpha):

Argiope florida - Silver Argiope, Florida Argiope Araneidae Members:			NC Records	BugGuide Account	Public View

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Distribution Records
PDF

Vetting Levels

Adult phenology:
High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
Piedmont (Pd)
Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge

synonym

taxonomic_comments

species_comment

Also called Florida Garden Spider

id_comments

The round oval abdomen has only two humps on each side. Color is blackish brown and the dark regions on the back part of the abdomen usually form two parallel dark lines. These dark lines are often marked with yellow. The femora of the legs are orange. The front of the abdomen and the cephalothorax are silvery. The male is proportionately much smaller than female.

total_length

Large, female total body length 12.5-18.0 mm, male total body length 5.1-6.7 mm.

structural_features

silk_web

fld_guide_descriptions

online_photos

prey

Prey items similar to other Argiope and include medium to large flying insects such as flies, bees, grasshoppers, cicadas, katydids, butterflies and beetles.

predators

behavior

Diurnal. Female sits in center of large web facing downward. The stabilimentum is composed of four short white zizags extending from the points of the paired legs.

distribution_reference

technical_reference

Spiders of North America - Bradley; Spiders of the Carolinas – Gaddy; Bugguide

adult_id

1 identifiable by photo 2 identifiable by photo of specific features and/or supplementary info 3 identifiable from specimen only

abundance

Uncommon

distribution_comments

Found in sandhills and likely in southern coast of North Carolina, south to Florida and west to Alabama. Males summer through autumn, females late summer through November.

checklist_mt_high
>=4,000 ft.

Regular	Frequent	Infrequent	Occasional	Seldom	Frequency Regular – almost always observed on given visit; >=90% chance of observation Frequent – usually observed on a given visit; >=50%<90% chance of observation Infrequent – observed less than 50% of visits; >=25%<50% chance of observation Occasional – observed on only on a small minority of visits; >=10%<25% chance of observation Seldom – not usually seen on visits; <10% chance of observation These terms refer to visits to appropriate habitats made at appropriate times of the year, making use of common sampling/observation methods. Under those conditions, Frequency refers to the chance of observing at least one individual on a given visit made anywhere within a particular region, or over multiple visits to a single site.

checklist_mt_low
<4,000 ft.

Regular	Frequent	Infrequent	Occasional	Seldom

checklist_pd
Piedmont

Regular	Frequent	Infrequent	Occasional	Seldom

checklist_cp
Coastal Plain

Regular	Frequent	Infrequent	Occasional	Seldom

habitat

Found in drier sandier areas than other Argiope.

observation_methods

Visual observation.

state_protection

NHP_ranks

NHP_status

status_comments

Photo Gallery for Argiope florida Silver Argiope, Florida Argiope
	Recorded by: Brian Bockhahn Moore Co. Comment:	Recorded by: ASH Moore Co. Comment: WEWO
	Recorded by: ASH Moore Co. Comment: WEWO - Very common througout the WEWO Tract.	Recorded by: ASH Moore Co. Comment: WEWO
	Recorded by: Steve Hall Scotland Co. Comment:

Photo Gallery for Argiope florida Silver Argiope, Florida Argiope