The wasp spider (Argiope bruennichi) lives on meadows. Most often we will observe large females in late-cut meadows, as they reach sexual maturity only in summer, some even in autumn.
It patiently waits for its prey in a large wheel-shaped web, which it usually stretches among vegetation near the ground. In the center of the web, from its own silk it weaves an upright zig-zag band, and in the middle of this it rules. Everything that gets tangled in this trap ends up as spider prey.
The female wasp spider is quite large and voracious, and she also attacks her own markedly smaller partner, and the male is often eaten during mating. At first glance this cruel act has a 'higher' purpose, since the female needs a lot of energy to mature the eggs in her abdomen, and the male helps her in this.
We will easily recognize the female wasp spider by its distinctly white-yellow abdomen with cross black stripes, which has earned it the Slovenian name. It is also large enough that we cannot miss it; the female's body is in fact 11 to 15 mm long. The male is much smaller; the length of his body is just over 4 mm. The male is also not brightly colored; his body is more or less uniformly pale brown.
