Garden or Writing Spider (Argiope sp., Araneidae)
Image Copyright David Newman
Observed: October 2015, Lonely Beach, Koh Chang
Observed By: David Newman
This spider is of the genus Argiope which are commonly known as garden spiders. It looks like the yellow garden spider but since they are common to North and Central America one it probably isn’t unless it hitched a lift in a backpack. It’s a close cousin anyway, feel free to let us know if you find the exact species.
As with most spiders the female garden spider is far larger than the male. They lay 400 to 1,400 eggs. They will kill insect prey up to twice their size and, reassuringly, they are harmless to humans.
