Argiope trifasciata
(Banded Garden Spider)

Featured spider picture The spider species Argiope trifasciata, commonly known as Banded Garden Spider, belongs to the genus Argiope, in the family Araneidae. Argiope trifasciata spiders have been sighted 59 times by contributing members. Based on collected data, the geographic range for Argiope trifasciata includes 10 countries and 21 states in the United States. Argiope trifasciata is most often sighted outdoors, and during the month of October.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Argiope
Species: Argiope trifasciata

Common Name (AAS)

Banded Garden Spider

Other Common Names

Banded Argiope, Garden Spider, Orb-weaver, Whitebacked Garden Spider (ESA common name)

Author

Petrus Forskål, 1775

Primary Colors

Sightings Overview

There have been 59 confirmed sightings of Argiope trifasciata (Banded Garden Spider), with the most recent sighting submitted on December 4, 2023 by Spider ID member missfinething. The detailed statistics below may not utilize the complete dataset of 59 sightings because of certain Argiope trifasciata sightings reporting incomplete data.

Web: 76% of the time, Argiope trifasciata spiders are sighted in a spider web (Sample size: 59)
Sex: 17 female and 3 male.
Environment: Argiope trifasciata has been sighted 72 times outdoors, and 5 times indoors.
Outdoors: Man-made structure (16). On flower (5). Low foliage (30). Ground layer (6). Under rock or debris (1). Freshwater river, lake, stream (4). Saltwater (1). Open field, pasture, grassland (8). Desert area (1).

Location and Range

Argiope trifasciata (Banded Garden Spider) has been sighted in the following countries: Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Israel, Mexico, Portugal, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Spain, United States.

Argiope trifasciata has also been sighted in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia.

Seasonality

Argiope trifasciata has been primarily sighted during the month of October.

January: 2
February: 2
March: 5
April: 5
May: 3
June:
July:
August: 8
September: 12
October: 15
November: 1
December: 6

Additional Remarks

This spider is similar in size, shape, color, and pattern to the Palearctic species Argiope bruennichi, which is not yet known to occur in North America (though we’re aware of at least one possible sighting in the state of Alaska, which was never confirmed).
Egg sac is about 10-18mm in diameter and shaped like a kettledrum, flat on one surface and rounded on the other; covered in tough, brown, papery silk and suspended amid tangled vegetation at periphery of web.
Females might lay 3 or 4 egg sacs. The spiderlings overwinter inside the sac and emerge in spring.