Black-and-yellow Argiope
Argiope aurantia

This spider is not timid nor does she wear concealing colors. She sits on her web a flaunts herself like she wants to be seen. Her coloring imitates yellow jacket possibly to confuse preditators.

These female spiders are 3/4 to 1-1/8 inches, and live in the tall plants on prairies, fields and meadows. Their range is throughout the United States and Southern Canada.

The male is about 1/4 to 3/8 inches and often lives in smaller webs at the edge of the female's web. The eggs are placed in a large round sac at the edge of the web. They hatch in the fall and overwinter in the sac.