A Joro spider?

Nope, it’s the native yellow garden spider (Argiope auranita)! Often mistaken for a Joro due to their similar appearance, this non-invasive counterpart is widespread across the US and is viewed as a highly beneficial pest manager that captures common garden pests. Like the Joro, the yellow garden spider is in the orb-weaver family Araneidae, named for the circular shape of their webs. You can tell it apart from the Joro via their thicker, more rounded abdomen, brown-black legs as opposed to the Joro’s yellow-black legs, a not-gold web and a “zipper” pattern on the web that yellow garden spiders are known to make as stabilization. #YellowGardenSpider #ArabiaMountain