Bite
Like almost all other spiders, Argiope are harmless to humans. Like most garden spiders they eat insects, and they are capable of consuming prey up to twice their size. A. savigny was even reported to occasionally feed on the small bat Rhynchonycteris naso. They might bite if grabbed, but other than for defense they do not attack large animals. Their venom is not regarded as a serious medical problem for humans; it often contain a library of polyamine toxins with potential as therapeutic medicinal agents. Notable among these is the Argiotoxin ArgTX-636 (A. lobata).
Read more about this topic: Argiope (spider)
Famous quotes containing the word bite:
“The remedy for thirst? It is the opposite of the one for a dog bite: run always after a dog, he’ll never bite you; drink always before thirst, and it will never overtake you.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)
“Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“How vainly shall we endeavor to repress crime by our barbarous punishment of the poorer class of criminals so long as children are reared in the brutalizing influences of poverty, so long as the bite of want drives men to crime.”
—Henry George (1839–1897)