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Discover Nature (Missouri Department of Conservation)

Discover Nature: Black and Yellow Garden Spiders

KBIA | By Kyle Felling
Published September 4, 2018 at 1:05 PM CDT
Black and yellow garden spiders are harmless to humans and provide excellent opportunities for children and adults to observe in the wild all summer long. They do not over winter in Missouri and adults will die with the first frosts of the fall.

This week on Discover Nature, take a walk in the garden or tall grass, and watch for silken traps spun by tiny architects of the natural world.

 

Black and yellow garden spiders (Argiope aurantia) are common across Missouri in tall grasslands, gardens, fields, and urban backyards. 

 

Adorned with yellow-orange markings on its black body, fully-grown females are about twice as big as males, and can reach more than an inch in length. 

 

These garden spiders weave intricate, circular webs, often more than two-feet in diameter. Silk threads run spirally from the center of the web, where the spider also commonly weaves a characteristic zig-zag band. The spider rests, dead down, in the center of the web and waits for unsuspecting prey. 

 

Black and yellow garden spiders prey on and help control populations of insects including grasshoppers and katydids. 

 

Because of their colorful patterns, remarkable web architecture, and easily observed behaviors, these harmless spiders provide excellent opportunities for children and adults to enjoy watching in the wild. 

 

Learn more about the black and yellow garden spider with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s online field guide.

 

Discover Nature is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
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Kyle Felling
Kyle Felling’s work at KBIA spans more than three decades. In 2025, he became KBIA and KMUC's Station Manager. He began volunteering at the station while he was a Political Science student at the University of Missouri. After being hired as a full-time announcer, he served as the long-time local host of NPR’s All Things Considered on KBIA, and was Music Director for a number of years. Starting in 2010, Kyle became KBIA’s Program Director, overseeing on-air programming and operations while training and supervising the station’s on-air staff. During that period, KBIA regularly ranked among the top stations in the Columbia market, and among the most listened to stations in the country. He was instrumental in the launch of KBIA’s sister station, Classical 90.5 FM in 2015, and helped to build it into a strong community resource for classical music. Kyle has also worked as an instructor in the MU School of Journalism, training the next generation of journalists and strategic communicators. In his spare time, he enjoys playing competitive pinball, reading comic books and Joan Didion, watching the Kansas City Chiefs, and listening to Bruce Springsteen and the legendary E Street Band.
See stories by Kyle Felling
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