Signature Spider

Firstly, I must apologise for not getting a dorsal shot of the female spider. There was no way that I could squeeze in between the spider and the trunk of the tree, but there are dorsal views in my other spottings listed in Notes below. Argiope luzona is a very common spider in the area where I live, but I hope you will agree that there is nothing common about its beauty. Argiope spiders are generally distinctively marked and are very colourful. The females are moderately large (full grown, their body length reaches about 24 mm). The males, are much smaller reaching only 6 mm. in length and are very plain, in comparison to the females. Because of their smaller size and drab appearance, the males are not so easy to spot, but this time I was lucky. When I was taking a picture of the female, I was happy to see a male on its web just a few inches behind the web of the female. According to Wikipedia, the males build webs close to the females when they are ready for mating.