Name: Svetlana Species: Writing Spider or Argiope aurantia Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Family: Araneidae Genus: Argiope Range: Lower Canada and throughout the 48 states Color: Black and yellow in color. Length for the female is about 2-3 cm, while the male is less than 1 cm. Eating habits: Carnivorous, eating insects such as flies, mosquitos, grasshoppers and bees, caught in her web Reference: Florida Nature

This young lady was in Sandy's yard, a wonderful spider, similar in size to the golden silk spider (nephila clavipes), and appears to be Argiope aurantia . I have yet to give her a name, though, I think she is a Svetlana. Note the zig-zag vertical element of her web. As if she had a Singer zig-zag sewing machine for web construction.

• Elegant web design from Berkeley
• Photos of different stages in development
• Identification and characterization (Florida)
• Exploring members of the Argiope family