Garden Spider, Not for the Squeemish

[Birdsong]

These are really beautiful creatures!

With a little more of his environment:

I would not want to meet this guy at dusk:

[SkunkedAgain]

Nice pics. I like seeing the detail in the legs on that last shot

[eyeguy 54]

Very nice!

[Steve Foss]

Beautiful images, Sarah, of a pretty darn good looking spider. And the telltale vertical zig-zag of the web (for stabilization) is another cool feature of the yellow garden argiope. I was reading that recent research shows the zig-zag part of the web may reflect ultraviolet light, which attracts insects.

I like the statement made by the first image, but then I've most often favored tighter compositions. Very nice work!

[ShawnZ]

wow, cool arachnid, it almost looks like two glowing eyes in a mask on the body of the spider. I enjoy the second image the most due to the environment giving scale to the spider.

[S.D. Ice Angular]

Love the fist and third shots

How big do these boys get?

[Steve Foss]

How big do these boys get?

The girls get bigger than the boys. Legspan included, the boys only reach about half an inch, while the girls get about two inches long.

[Birdsong]

Then apparently this a 'girl'. Thanks for the info. (And comments, as well.)

[JayinMN]

I never thought I would describe a spider as pretty but she is a looker! Nice captures.