Size and Appearance:
The adult female's body can be over 1 inch long. The male is less than a third her size.

Garden spiders are fairly easy to identify due to their distinctive yellow and black abdomen and silvery-white head. The female sits upside down in her web with her legs in an "X" formation.

Commonly Found:
There are many different types of garden spider, most of the time these spiders are found in the lawn or garden but can also be found within the home as well.

Diet:
Mainly eats insect pests, such as moths and flies that can infest your garden or invade your home.

Important Facts:
The garden spider is very harmless to people and isn’t aggressive. If you disturb a garden spider, it will vibrate its web to try to look larger to discourage predators. If this doesn't work, it will drop to the ground and hide.

The garden spider will use its venom only as a last resort, because it won't be able to capture a meal until it can produce venom to replace what was lost. Its venom isn't toxic to humans and if one bites you, it should only cause brief discomfort and minor redness at the area bitten.

The benefits of having a garden spider in your yard or garden greatly outweigh the negatives as they eat nuisance pests such as moths and flies.

Garden spiders include the following: meshweb spiders, crab spiders, running crab spiders, wolf spiders, nursery web spiders, comb-footed spiders, stretch spiders, orb-web spiders, sheet web spiders, dwarf spiders, sac spiders, and buzzing spiders. Most all of garden spiders are orb weaving, which basically means that they are known for their orb looking webs.