Published September 27. 2017 02:45PM
A yellow garden spider works furiously on a web in a backyard in Brodheadsville. According to the Penn State Entomology Department, this is one of the largest and showiest of the spiders commonly encountered in Pennsylvania. They are seen in gardens, tall weeds, and sunny areas with bushes and other supporting structures on which they build their large orb webs. The web is large and oriented vertically with a white zigzag stripe down the center, which is called the stabilimentum. According to the Carbon Environmental Education center, the zigzag is a signal to birds so they don’t fly into it and destroy their hard work. MARTA GOUGER/TIMES NEWS
A yellow garden spider works furiously on a web in a backyard in Brodheadsville. According to the Penn State Entomology Department, these are some of the largest and showiest of the spiders commonly encountered in Pennsylvania. They are seen in gardens, tall weeds, and sunny areas with bushes and other supporting structures on which they build their large orb webs. Yellow garden spiders are found throughout most of the United States. The web is large (50- to 100-centimeter diameters are not uncommon) and oriented vertically with a white zigzag stripe down the center, which is called the stabilimentum. The exact function of this structure is unclear. MARTA GOUGER/TIMES NEWS