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Argiope australis, the common garden orb web spider, is an orb-web spider (family Araneidae) found in eastern sub-Saharan Africa.
Argiope australis is found throughout eastern sub-Saharan Africa, with records from Cape Verde, Senegal, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa.
It is found as far west as the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Namibia and in some areas of South Asia in Sindh, Pakistan.
Argiope australis is widespread throughout Africa. In South Africa, the species is known from all nine provinces at elevations ranging from 7 to 2,066 m above sea level.
The species constructs orb webs in open grassland areas and gardens. The webs are usually placed low in shrubby vegetation sturdy enough to bear their weight. The spider hangs at the hub head-down throughout the day, with webs frequently decorated with a stabilimentum. The species has been sampled from all floral biomes and was also collected from crops such as avocado, peach and pistachio orchards, pine plantations and pumpkin fields.
After rain in the Free State at Clocolan, an "Argiope city" was discovered where 50-60 spider webs were present in bushes, likely attracted by high numbers of grasshoppers. Most webs were large, at least 500 mm in diameter, some with stabilimenta and others without.
