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This garden spider is from the family of Orb Weavers. It is a Cross Orb Weaver, Araneus diadematus, as identified by the obvious cross on its abdomen. Orb weavers are beneficial spiders for the gardener and the homeowner as they not only eat garden pests, they also eat mosquitos and other flying pests. They tear down their webs every night and build a new web before dawn. Their webs are symmetrically circular, or orb like, and the spider can usually be found hanging upside down in the center of their web.