pls. id. a large black spider w/ brite yellow slashes on his side and yellow spots on top - found in ct.?

Question

so far no correct answers. this spider had a roundish body. none of the pic's i looked at were it! any other ideas out there? the yellow was very brite!!

Answer 1

St Andrews Cross Spiders...low risk - non-aggressive





Venom toxicity - the bite of the St Andrews Cross is of low risk (non-toxic) to humans. They are a non-aggressive group of spiders.

Area of distribution - Australia-wide.

Spider Identification - adult 5 to 15 mm in body length - abdomen striped yellow and brown - as illustrated. The St Andrews Cross Spider usually sits, upside down, in the middle of it's web forming a cross - as illustrated.

Habitat - this spider is a web-weaver usually found in summer in garden areas around the home. It is considered beneficial as it spins a large web to snare flying insects, such as flies and mosquitoes.

Answer 2

Most likely the golden garden spider, Argiope
aurantia. Not likely to be the St. Andrew's Cross
spider, which is introduced from Europe and isn't
very common or widespread. Also it is brown with
white marks forming a cross-like mark dorsally.

Answer 3

sounds like it could be an Argiope spider, also known as the yellow garden spider, lives in your area

http://www.uark.edu/depts/entomolo/museum/argiope.html

http://zipcodezoo.com/Animals/A/Argiope_aurantia.asp