Spider Eating Bug
November 18, 2009
Dear Bugman, my friend was out in his garden the other day and saw this bug attacking a spider. It eventually carried it off down a hole. The bug was about the size of a small car… or maybe more like 5 or 6 centimetres. Later he found his cat screaming and leaping about with the bug on her back. Are you able to identify this garden terrorist?
Belinda
Wellington, New Zealand
Spider Wasp with Prey
Hi Belinda,
Though your humor amuses us, we should probably clarify for our readership that the cat was safe from being attacked by this awesome Spider Wasp in the family Pompilidae. We are unable to find a matching species on the Brisbane Insect website, so your specimen might be restricted to New Zealand. Spider Wasps feed on nectar, but the young feed on spiders provided by the female wasp. The female Spider Wasp stings and paralyzes a spider and then buries it after laying an egg. The developing, helpless larva then can feed on fresh meat since the sting paralyzed the spider, but left it alive.
Spider Wasp with Prey
Mammoth bee-looking-spider
November 16, 2009
We stepped out of our house here in Pasadena, CA to go for a walk. In front of my neighbor’s house, we saw an insect moving on the sidewalk like Addams Family’s “The Thing.” You can hear it walking on the cement. I assumed that it might move fast when we had got closer. Instead, it moved slow, and when we had gotten closer and it stood still. It didn’t raise it’s legs in defense like some bugs. The head was golden yellow, the body yellow/brown, and the end was striped yellow and brown. We left it alone, came back, and it was ran over (probably by a bike). My lady said there was four legs; I thought it was three because it looked like a bee, but it didn’t have wings. Every body part was thick, like it was taking steroids. I left it at night, came back in the morning, and it was gone. I need your help. I’ve not seen anything this big since Mexico. I’m having a baby soon and would like to know what’s crawling around my neighborhood. Any help would be awesome. I drew four legs, but it might be three legs.
Andres Dorame
Pasadena, CA 91106
Sketch of Golden Orbweaver, we believe
Dear Andres,
Though your sketch is lovely, it makes it difficult to be certain of an identification. We are guessing you encountered a Golden Orbweaver, Argiope aurantia, a harmless spider that builds a circular web in the garden. The spiders are quite helpless if knocked out of the web, and they will not leave their webs to hunt, preferring instead to snare flying insects that become trapped. Golden Orbweavers pose no threat to humans, despite the large size.
bright green spider
November 9, 2009
I found this spider hanging out on my front door when my sister came to visit today. I grabbed my camera so I could try to identify it.
Marie
Indiana
Orchard Orbweaver
Hi Marie,
Your beautiful spider is an Orchard Orbweaver, Leucauge venusta. You can find more information on BugGuide.
suggestion
November 10, 2009
I’m wondering if any of the other WTB addicts out there would agree with the idea that it would be cool to eliminate the bug’s name from the title of each submission, so that we can test our knowledge when we see the pic? Obviously it would be left in the body of your response.
Here’s a spider pic (because apparently I can’t submit a Q without one & because I’m not sure if this is a marbled orb weaver- it looks different than the one in my book).
Vince
Northern Indiana
Marbled Orbweaver
Hi Vince,
Your suggestion does bring up some possibilities in our minds, most significantly the thought of pitching a game show to the animal planet. Amateurs that we are, we do post a significant number of unidentified images and we rely heavily upon our readership to supply us with answers. We are happy you needed to attach a photo as this is a color variation of the Marbled Orbweaver, Araneus marmoreus, that we do not often see. It is well represented on BugGuide.
New friend in Iowa
November 7, 2009
This little guy has taken up residence on our porch, is he doomed with the onset of winter just around the corner?
Worried
Granger Iowa
Marbled Orbweaver
Dear Worried,
We love your photo of a harmless Marbled Orbweaver, Araneus marmoreus. It is a highly variable species, and BugGuide illustrates the variety quite nicely.
Update
Thank you Fennecky, for bringing it to our attention that we did not answer the question “is he doomed with the onset of winter just around the corner?” First off, he is not doomed, she is doomed. This is a female spider. Orbweavers do not live more than one season, and hopefully she will have laid eggs, ensuring a future generation. If kept it captivity under optimal conditions, it is possible that a female Orbweaver may pass the year marker, but this would be a rarity. The onset of a frost and freezing temperatures will probably end this gal’s life.
What arachnid is yellow & black in CALIF but not a garden spider?
November 4, 2009
What arachnid is yellow & black in CALIF but not a garden spider?
Your letter to the bugman I found this arachnid on the head of an acquaintance last week so I flicked it out of his hair with my finger. I looked all over to see where it landed but couldn’t find it. This morning I went out to my truck and it was on my front seat! I’m in Santa Cruz, California.
Please help me identify it.
Thank you, James
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
White Banded Crab Spider
Hi James,
Your spider is a highly variable White Banded Crab Spider, Misumenoides formosipes, and it is harmless. There are several matching images on BugGuide.
Jumping spider mating display
October 31, 2009
Hi,
I was working in my backyard today when I noticed these two beautiful little jumping spiders. The male was trying to convince the female that he would make a good mate. He would approach the female with his arms raised and vibrate his pedipalps. When he would get close, the female would chase after him like she was going to eat him. Eventually the male decided that it wasn’t worth the risk and ran away. The male was about 1/4 of an inch long, and the female was about 1/2 an inch long. They had gray bodies and brilliant gold hairs covering their legs. Any help you can provide in identifying these little beauties will be very appreciated. Keep up the great work.
Josh Kouri
Jumping Spiders: Mating of Vying for Dominance???
Hi Josh,
We believe your spiders are Phidippus mystaceus based on images posted to BugGuide, but we also suspect this might be two male spiders vying for dominance. The male spider is a perfect match to an image on BugGuide. The coloration and pattern of the females posted to BugGuide are significantly different than in your photos. The images are quite amazing.
Jumping Spider: Male or Female???
Hi,
After I saw that you identified my spiders I decided to look for more pictures of Phidippus mystaceus/. /I found several sites that showed females with gold on their legs. These all lacked the red markings on top of their heads that the males have. The larger of the spiders I found also lacked these red markings, but the smaller one had them. Could there be another variation or subspecies of P. mystaceus/ /where the females have gold legs too? Thanks for the help with the I.D.
Josh Kouri
Hi,
Here are the links. http://bugguide.net/node/view/231102/bgimage
http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/35475
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phidippus_mystaceus
Hope they help.
Josh Kouri
What Spider is this
October 27, 2009
This spider eated his mate.
mr
Costa Mesa, CA
Orbweavers Mating
Dear mr,
We are uncertain what species of Orbweaver you have sent our way. We couldn’t even say for sure if this is an Araneus. Perhaps one of our readers can tell. Your photos are amazing. It isn’t unusual for female spiders to eat their mates.
Orbweaver eats her Mate
Web spinning huntsman
October 26, 2009
Web spinning huntsman
We get these around outside and inside our house (Queensland, Australia.) They look like male huntsman spiders, and are more active at night, but they also weave massive webs from time to time (between trees) with a very thick fiber. This one came out of my downpipe this morning and bit my arm, self defence I expect, the bite is not serious, just two red dots. Card is in the photo for scale, its the size of a regular credit card.
Dylan
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Gray Huntsman Spider
Hi Dylan,
We are nearly certain this is a Giant Gray Huntsman Spider, Holconia immanis, which we initially identified on the Geocities Brisbane Insect Website. We continued to search for information once we had the scientific name. A website called the Australian Natural History Website that appears to be run by individuals as opposed to being associated with a scientific organization indicates “The Grey Huntsman does not build a web and is found along the east coast of Australia. They are most active in the summer months and are often encountered in houses, gardens and forested areas. This spider does not bite readily and if it does the pain is mild and local to the bite area.“ A scientific paper written by Klaus Henle from the 1993 Journal of Arachnology that is posted online indicates: “Both species are typical sit-and-wait foragers.Adult H. immanis seem to have 1-2 preferredambush sites where most individuals were ob-served on many consecutive nights up to a period of 6 months.“ Another Australian Insect website that cites Henle’s observations indicates: “Habitat Huntsman spiders are found throughout the east coast of Australia. They do not build webs, and are usually found under bark or ivy or other such sheltered plants. They can also seek shelter inside houses. Diet Typically Huntsman spiders are described to be sit-and-wait foragers where they ambush their prey, often choosing favourite ambush sites (Henle, 1993).” The Insects of Townsville, Australia website built by Graeme Cocks has wonderful photographs. Since all the information we have been able to locate indicates that this species does not build webs, your observations are most interesting. All spiders can spin silk, but Hunting Spiders generally do not build webs as snares. If you are able to photograph this species with its web, please send us documentation in a followup email. It is possible that the Grey Huntsman Spider uses a silken line to move from tree to tree, but that it does not build an actual web.
Gray Huntsman Spider
Thanks Daniel.
I will keep an eye out for any webs. It happens rarely enough that I think it may be a mating or nesting thing. I’ve seen one wrap a palm frond in silk to make a kind of hide, then tie off the frond to our garage gutter. If I ever see it again, I will take some photos.
Cheers,
Dylan Tusler.
*Must see* – Garden spider laying eggs
October 16, 2009
North CarolinaThis garden spider is the only form of pest control we use in our veggie garden – we find a pest, and into the web it goes. My 5 year old loves to help too, he named her “yellow butt”. She was well fed enough this season to produce two egg sacs, the second of which I was able to get these great photos of. I checked in on her every 5 mins for an hour and watched her progress. These photos are of her attaching the eggs to the base, but before she has encased them all in silk.
Josh
North Carolina
Golden Orbweaver laying eggs
Hi Josh,
This spectacular species, Argiope aurantia, has numerous common names, and we prefer Golden Orbweaver. Your egg laying documentation is a wonderful addition to our website. Thanks for the contribution.
Golden Orbweaver laying eggs
Big spider on my door
October 15, 2009
We came home and we went “Eaahh!” There was a huge (2″?) spider on our front door. After some fiddling with our camera we managed to get a couple of half-decent photos of it. We thought it might be the California Trapdoor Spider that some others have met recently, but it’s body isn’t shiny and black and doesn’t quite look the same.
The Gandolfo Family
Hills outside Santa Rosa, Northern California
Crevice Weaver Spider
Dear Gandolfo Family
As much as we would have loved this to be a female California Trapdoor Spider, we believe it is a female Crevice Weaver Spider in the genus Kukulcania. We found some closely matching images on BugGuide. One of the postings on BugGuide indicates that individuals in this genus may live for 10 years. Males are sometimes mistaken for Brown Recluse Spiders. BugGuide has additional information. We also are providing a link to images of the female California Trapdoor Spider, though they rarely leave their burrows.
Crevice Weaver Spider
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Posted 17 October 2009
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Trapdoor Spider
October 17, 2009
My wife found this spider in our kitchen sink. She was too scared to pick it out even though it was dead. After picking it out I was fascinated by its size. My question is if this spider is dangerous/venomous? Thank You.
Erik T.
Mount Washington, Los Angeles
California Trapdoor Spider
Hi Erik,
Thanks for informing us about another Mount Washington sighting of a Male California Trapdoor Spider. All spiders have venom, but only a few are harmful to humans. Either the venom is too mild or is not of sufficient quantity, or the fangs of the spider cannot penetrate human skin. We know of no reports of anyone being bitten by a California Trapdoor Spider, but that does not mean it cannot happen. The California Trapdoor Spider is not a species that is considered harmful to humans. We are happy to hear that there must still be a healthy population of this magnificent spider in the Mount Washington area where continued development is reducing the amount of open space.
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