Argiope argentata is a member of the Argiope

Argiope

-Greek Mythological Persons:* Argiope, a Naiad, a daughter of the River God Nile. She was wife of Agenor and mother of his children. More commonly known as Telephassa...

genus of spiders and is also known as the Silver Argiope.

Description

As with most members of the Argiope genus the female of the species tends to be much larger than the male. The body of Argiope argentata tends to be primarily silver with brown and orange colorations further back on the abdomen on the top, with a primarily brown underbelly. The legs have bands of orange, black and silver. The female can be up to 35mm in length whereas the male tends to be 20mm or less.

Location

Argiope argentata is found from southern California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 to Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 extending down as far as Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, though preferring to stay in warmer, dryer areas. They can often be found on prickly pear

Opuntia

Opuntia, also known as nopales or paddle cactus , is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae.Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200 species distributed throughout most of the Americas. Chollas are now separated into the genus Cylindropuntia, which some still consider...

s in the fall.

Bite

The bite can be stingy and itchy during the first approximate hour, then the pain usually passes away. However, it may have several health repercussions on children, seniors and physically weak people.

External links

• Picture of Argiope argentata (free for noncommercial use)