Oval St. Andrew’s Cross Spider from Sri Lanka

Subject: Identify a spider
Location: Gonagaldeniya, sri lanka.
August 30, 2015 8:33 am
Dear bugman, i want to identify this spider. He lived under the roof of our house. We are in the wet zone. And sri lanka is a tropical counrty. He builds a strong and sticky web..
Thank you!
Signature: Tharindu Dilshan

Dear Tharindu,
Your spider is an Orbweaver, and we believe it is in the genus Argiope.  Large Orbweavers are capable of biting people, but they are docile spiders that rarely leave their webs, and the bite is not considered dangerous.  Thanks to images posted to WongChunXing.com, we believe you have an Oval St. Andrew’s Cross Spider, Argiope aemula.  According to A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders on Habitat News:  “Unlike many other Argiope spiders, the abdomen is oval. Argiope spiders make webs which are suspended vertically 1-2 metres from the ground, the web of mature female spiders of this genus can be easily recognised by the X-shaped zigzag bands of white silk in the centre of the web.”