Remember those large, black and yellow garden spiders (Argiope aurantia) that seemed so scary when you were a child? Fortunately they are still around, although some reports state they are declining in numbers like just about every other form of wildlife.

It is important to keep in mind that by mowing large swaths of tall wildflowers, grasses, and what-have-you, in the later summer or early fall, you could be disrupting the life cycle of these beautiful and beneficial creatures.

Just outside our barn in Missouri's Ozarks, there is a garden spider's web, complete with that large white zigzag pattern (stabilimentum) in the web's center, and Ms. Garden Spider situates herself near that zigzag much of the time, which no doubt serves as a camouflage, due to the similar zigzag in the coloring on her own body.

Check out the pictures of this black (and yellow) beauty.