Autumn Argiopes

1 August 2019

The first records of Argiope aurantia (Yellow Garden Spider) and Argiope trifasciata (Banded Garden Spider) for 2019 are starting to pop up. Females of these species are some of the largest spiders in Minnesota. They are often found in open, sunny locations like prairies and grasslands (and gardens). The females sit in their large orb web during the day so they are easily seen and even a lousy cellphone picture can often be used to identify them definitively.

Can we establish the presence of this these two species in every county in Minnesota?

I'd like to make it the goal of this project and its members to try and establish those new county records from August until that killing frost we all know is coming. Take a look at the counties listed below. Maybe it's the county next door; maybe you'll be vacationing in that county in the coming month; maybe you're crazy enough to drive to Kittson County in the far northwest just to establish an Argiope county record (or maybe you know someone who is going birding there already who can take a picture of one of these beautiful spiders while they are there).

The following 50 37 counties have no records of Argiope aurantia:
Aitkin, Beltrami, Benton, Big Stone, Carlton, Cass, Chisago, Clearwater, Cook, Cottonwood, Crow Wing, Dodge, Douglas, Faribault, Fillmore, Grant, Houston, Hubbard, Itasca, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Kittson, Koochiching, Lac Qui Parle, Lake, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Meeker, Mower, Murray, Nobles, Norman, Otter Tail, Pennington, Pine, Polk, Pope, Red Lake, Redwood, Roseau, St. Louis, Steele, Stevens, Swift, Traverse, Wadena, Waseca, Wilkin, and Wright.

The following 47 35 counties have no records of Argiope trifasciata:
Aitkin, Benton, Big Stone, Cass, Chippewa, Clearwater, Cook, Cottonwood, Crow Wing, Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Hubbard, Itasca, Jackson, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake, Lake of the Woods, Lincoln, Mahnomen, Marshall, Martin, McLeod, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Mower, Murray, Nobles, Norman, Pennington, Pine, Pope, Red Lake, Roseau, Scott, Sibley, St. Louis, Steele, Swift, Todd, Wadena, and Wilkin.

I'll update this post as new county records get established. Happy spidering!

Posted on 01 August, 2019 16:48 by cheins1