And the cool thing is they'll eat their web and recycle the silk proteins to make a new web.

I'm not sure about Argiope arantia, but their smaller nocturnal cousins (the kind Charlotte of "Charlotte's Web" was based on) make a new web every evening. My wife and kids and I spent a half hour at Luigi's in RCity a couple of weeks ago watching one build her web over our patio table jsut before sunset. Way cool! But, these are the same ones that build the webs you end up walking through if you have to go to the car in the middle of the night. Ambitious little boogers, boobytrapping the sidewalk like that!

Tonyp, I read an article a couple of years ago that said the zigzag may be an adaptation to help them overcome a lot of insects' ability to "learn" how to avoid the web, and that it might also mimic the ultraviolet signature of flowers and thus could serve as an attractant to nectar-eating insects.

It would be a dead spider if I had something to do with it!!!

Saw one at the tank this weekend. Threw a grasshopper into the web and in seconds the spider had the GH wrapped tightly in a web coffin. Came back a few minutes later after fishing and threw a couple more GH's into the web and she did the same thing.

The web coffin was o thick you could barely make out the GH.

we call them zipper spides, dont know the real name

Banana Spider
A very large common spider in North America. Usually hangs in webs with its head facing the ground. It is brightly colored. Its venom is a neurotoxin similar to that of the black widow. However, its venom is not near as potent. Its bite causes local pain and redness with blisters forming. This bite usually resolves within 24 hours except for the bite mark.

that is very interesting, there are several different theories that scientists have for the use of the zig zag, and the exact purpose is still un known. i have seen bees in these webs before, and bees are in their diet. it surprises me how some of the most simplistic things in nature are so hard to figure out. i wonder if the true reason will ever be known???

that is a common garden spider and completely harmless unless you are an insect caught inthe web. they are a very beneficial spider. dont kill it

Ya i agree hank!!!!!

Tallgrass is correct. Although it is sometimes called a garden spider, its real name is a yellow agriope. I saw the website you quoted, Big Red, and they are right, but the name is usually used to describe another spider. The "banana spider" is more commonly used to refer to the golden orb weaver. It is also called the golden silk spider. They look like this:

They are very good spider to have around.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_garden_spider

saw a couple of those the other day out dove hunting.....resisted the urge to take em out...

Agreed, Orb spider or common garden spider. completley harmless. My folks have one as I write. This is the female. After she has babies (1500 or so) she will die.