She's the Yellow Garden Spider, Argiope aurantia. Not the same spider that is commonly called the banana spider, as is mentioned in the other forum. At least not typically. These spiders make their nets where ever they think they have good support and plenty of activity. They cut these webs loose every night and make a new one, believe it or not. Yellow garden spiders will take advantage of any advantageous site between plants in the garden. They are typically found in sunny locations; I remember seeing them between stalks of corn when I was growing up.

catman, I've seen one or two praying mantis around our yard since we've lived here but we have many, many hummingbirds and enjoy watching them. Needless to say, I'd freak if I saw once being eaten by a mantis. I do like the mantis too because they are so interesting to observe.

From what I can tell from the photo, this is an American House Spider(Parasteatoda tepidariorum), which, in spite of the common name, are often found outdoors. This is one of our most common spider species in SC. They are harmless, although their webs are messy if indoors, and they often feed on other spiders. They are in the same family as the Widows(Latrodactus sp.), but do not have medically significant venom, and I've never even known one to bite. They just curl up and drop from their webs like a pebble if disturbed.

It's one of the "false Widow" spiders, Steatoda grossa. These are, as Jean001a pointed out, in the Theridiidae family, which includes true Widows( genus Latrodactus) and the American House Spiders. These, however, are not considered "medically significant" in terms of venom.