What some people don't know about me...

I'm aracnophobic. Which is why Brian got such a thrill to show me his new found discovery while weed eating. Jackson wanted me to catch a pic of it and so bravely I got as close as I could without breaking out into the normal cold sweat like I normally do. If this spider had been inside our house I wouldn't be able to kill it. I would get close and freeze, breaking out into that cold sweat, and getting a bit nauseous. Usually, I will call upon Brian, my mom or any other person close by to get rid of it. Quite pathetic, I know. I remember one time I had this big fat spider above the front door hanging there as parents came in and out dropping their kids off. I just stared at it and didn't say anything. It looked as if it were pregnant. I had a vision of me killing it only to discover a hundred tiny baby spiders scurrying all over the place. That gives me the heebeejeebeez just thinking about it. I called mom and she left work to come and kill it for me. I'm so ashamed. lol. Anyway, here is information on the type of spider above:


Writing spiders (Argiope aurantia) are orb weaving spiders found throughout the United States. They are characterized as large yellow and black spiders that build their nests around homes and gardens.
They get their nickname from their web construction practices. It appears they write a series of zs or Xs down the center.
The above picture shows a writing spider in action. You can see the spinnerets (brown patch) open at the bottom of the abdomen, spraying silk around the newly captured honeybee.
They do bite, however they are not considered dangerous spiders. You can normally approach them at close range for a picture.
The Araneus Spiders link in the box will take you to a page covering another group of orb weaving spiders.