One of our largest, brightest, and most frequently noticed spiders, the Black-and-Yellow Argiope is very common throughout North Carolina. They are also known as the garden spider (since they're very common in gardens) or writing spider (for the patterns in their webs). They catch large insects in their sturdy webs, including grasshoppers and butterflies. They are harmless to humans.

How do you pronounce Argiope? According to the folks at bugguide, it's ar-GUY-oh-pee.

Craven Co. 9/3/03.

This one has caught a migrating Monarch butterfly! You can see some of the "writing" in this web.

New Hanover Co., NC 8/26/06.

This one has caught a cicada (Tibicen sp.) in its web! I didn't notice them while I was taking the photo, but if you look closely you'll see there are two other spiders seemingly waiting in the wings.

Durham Co., NC 8/19/07.

Demonstrating its "writing" ability... mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Durham Co., NC 8/23/09.

Durham Co., NC 8/23/09.

One of the largest ones I've seen.

Bladen Co., NC 10/7/06.

This one has caught a dragonfly -- a male Eastern Pondhawk, which is, or was, itself a voracious predator.

Craven Co., NC 8/31/08.