Wasp Spiders? Spider Wasps?

This is a picture of a spider in the Genus Argiope. In North America they are commonly called garden spiders.  A related spider in other parts of the world is sometimes referred to as a wasp spider. They are very large conspicuous spiders with yellow stripes on their abdomens that remind some people of the stripes on some paper wasps and yellowjackets. Fortunately, these  spiders don't have a stinger, although I will admit that the projection on the end of this one's abdomen almost looks like one.  Actually, these are the spider's spinnerets, and she cannot "sting" anyone with them. Spinnerets are used to produce the silk that the spider's web is made out of. These spiders are not thought to be harmful to humans and although they can bite, the venom is relatively harmless to us. They are very large spiders though, and are perfectly capable of capturing and eating wasps, bees, and other large flying insects. This one had recently caught a honey bee in it's web.  I could tell, because the poor bee's pollen baskets were visible through the webbing.

So, this is a spider that looks like a wasp and eats wasps...a wasp spider. A spider wasp on the other hand is a wasp that eats spiders.  I don't have time to get into that one right now, but they are very cool too.