What do garden spiders eat?

Garden spiders eat flying insects like gnats, flies, mosquitoes and bees. These spiders are known for making sticky, orb-like webs that catch their prey as it flies into them.

When the prey gets stuck in the web, the garden spider bites it to inject it with venom, which stuns the insect and allows the spider to easily eat it. The garden spider will perch itself in the middle of the web, or hang below it by its own silk thread; when the web catches an insect, it will vibrate and alert the spider to ascend. In addition to the smaller flying insects that typically get caught in the web, grasshoppers, crane flies and yellow jackets are consumed by the garden spider.