The black and yellow argiope (Argiope aurantia) is Kentucky's only garden spider and belongs to the orb-weaver group of spiders. As their name implies, black and yellow argiopes have black and yellow markings on their body; this spider is approximately 3 inches long from leg tip to leg tip. Like all orb weavers, the garden spiders build round webs with erratic patterns at the center. Orb weavers wait in the web's center until the web catches an insect or bug. When an insect or bug hits the web, it sends off a vibration to alert the spider of its prey's presence. Marbled spiders, furrow spiders and arrowhead spiders are other garden orb weavers found in Kentucky.
Crab spiders have similar habits and body structures as crabs. These spiders have flat cephalothoraxes and they possess the ability to move sideways and backwards. Ambush predation is the style of hunting crab spiders use for catching prey. Crab spiders usually hide in flowers and wait for butterflies and bees to come pollinate the flower. Once they catch their prey, crab spiders eat it almost immediately. These spiders do not build webs for laying eggs or storing their victims.
Kentucky's funnel weavers build funnel-shaped webs in forests, parks and urban gardens. The most common funnel weaver in Kentucky is the grass spider. Grass spiders have large bodies -- up to 1.5 inches long -- and resemble wolf spiders; however, wolf spiders do not create webs. These spiders are beneficial to gardens since they provide a form of insect pest control. Also, grass spiders rarely leave their webs, so they do not pose a threat of entering households. Funnel weavers wait at the bottom of their web for insects to pass the wide part of the web. When they feel the web's vibration, the funnel weavers pounce on their victims.
Jumping spiders have powerful legs and the ability to jump up to 40 times its body length. A jumping spider also has four pair of eyes and can see up to 1 foot away from its body. In gardens, a jumping spider usually perches on a leaf or flower and waits for insects to pass underneath the plant; once it sees a target, the jumping spider jumps on its prey. Some of Kentucky's jumping spider species are the ant-mimic jumping spiders, Hentzia genus, dimorphic jumping spider and spiders in the Phidippus and Platycryptus genera.