On October 16th, 2023, while hiking the trails at Ben Geren Park in Fort Smith, Arkansas, I encountered something I’d been hoping to photograph for a while: a Banded Garden Spider sitting dead center in her web. This was my first real opportunity to photograph one of these impressive arachnids, and she didn’t disappoint.
Her web was positioned about 6 1/2 feet off the ground, strung between vegetation right alongside the trail on an old roadbed. She sat there perfectly still, legs stretched out in that classic X-pattern, waiting for whatever unlucky insect might fly into her trap. The morning light was just right, and I knew I had to capture this. This wasn’t my first spider encounter at Ben Geren Park. I’d previously photographed an orb weaver spider on a mountain bike trail here as well.
Banded Garden Spider: Wildlife Notes
The Banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata) is widespread across North and South America, though it’s also established populations in other parts of the world. These are sizeable spiders. Females can reach up to an inch in body length, with leg spans that make them look even more impressive. You’ll typically spot them from mid-summer through fall, right up until the first hard freeze knocks them out.
Like most orb weavers, the females do the heavy lifting. They construct large, circular webs and spend their days sitting in the center, waiting. In early fall, they lay egg sacs containing hundreds of eggs. The female dies after laying her eggs, but those eggs overwinter and hatch the following spring, starting the cycle all over again.
Their diet consists mainly of flying insects: grasshoppers, katydids, cicadas, and other substantial prey. When something hits the web, the spider doesn’t just rush over and bite. She shakes the web violently to further entangle the insect, making escape nearly impossible. Then she moves in to inject venom and wrap the prey in silk. Interestingly, if the web gets damaged during the struggle, she’ll often repair it before even bothering to retrieve her meal. Priorities.
One of the coolest things I learned while researching this spider: under ultraviolet light, both the spider and most of her web become nearly invisible, but the zigzag stabilimentum (that distinctive white zigzag pattern you see in the web) lights up like a neon sign. Scientists believe this serves as an attractant, drawing insects toward the web. It’s basically a billboard that says “fly here” in a wavelength insects can see but we can’t. Brilliant strategy.
Photography Notes
I shot this at 8:26 AM with my Canon EOS R5 and the RF 100-500mm lens pushed all the way to 500mm. The spider was close to the trail, but I wanted that reach to keep my distance and avoid disturbing her web.
Here’s where things get interesting with the settings. I shot this at ISO 10000, which is fairly high for 8:26 AM shooting. I was working in forest shade along the trail, and at 500mm with f/8, I needed that higher ISO to maintain a 1/500 second shutter speed. That shutter speed was critical for handholding at 500mm and freezing any movement from the spider or breeze in the web.
The f/8 aperture gave me enough depth of field to keep the spider sharp from front legs to back while still getting nice background separation. I also dialed in +1/3 exposure compensation to keep the spider’s yellow and black banding from going too dark in the dappled forest light.
The R5 handles ISO 10000 quite well, delivering a clean enough file for the shot. In hindsight, I could have opened up to f/5.6 or f/6.3 to drop the ISO to around 5000 – 6400, which would have given me a slightly cleaner image. But the settings I used got the job done and kept everything sharp.
Camera Settings:
- Date: October 16, 2023
- Time: 8:26 AM
- Camera: Canon EOS R5
- Lens: Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
- ISO: 10000
- Aperture: f/8
- Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec
- Exposure Compensation: +1.0
- Focal Length: 500mm
Both she and your photo of her are gorgeous!