CLOSED: ID this spider please - found on Moloka'i (Hawai'i)

Kailua, HI

Around Thanksgiving, my friends and I took a short weekend trip to Moloka'i. At my uncle's house, we spotted this spider just lounging on its web on the back of a garden chair. His backyard faced toward the ocean.

At first, my friends and I thought it was a garden spider, but the shape of the abdomen and the striped pattern on its legs threw me off. As I recall, the spider was fairly large, perhaps 4-5 inches in diameter (from the back legs to the front legs). The abdomen was a bright yellow-green with black speckles, the legs striped with black and red/orange.

Please let me know if you have an idea - it's been bugging me ever since we saw it in November!


This message was edited May 31, 2012 1:28 AM

Thumbnail by odphnk Thumbnail by odphnk
Charleston, SC

It looks like Argiope appensa, which is commonly called a Garden Spider. Nice pics!

http://bugguide.net/node/view/44542

Kailua, HI

Oh wow, thanks! I guess my hunch was right about it being a garden spider!

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