Orange brain bum spider
Location: Ottawa, ON
October 26, 2011 11:17 pm
Hi! I’m in Ottawa, Ontario and found this spider lolly-gagging out my front door. It’s about 3 degrees celsius tonight and it was moving incredibly slow, so I scooped it up and took some photos.
I’ve never seen a spider like this around my house. He has a bright vibrant orange spot on his abdomen, and i.m.o. the whole back end looks vaguely brain like. It was biggish (about the size of a toonie). Even though winter will be settling in, I let him go in my front garden.
Please help me identify, I haven’t had much luck searching myself!
Signature: Finnegan
Orbweaver
Hi Finnegan,
This is a harmless Orbweaver in the genus Araneus.
Oh wow, thanks for the quick reply! Although spiders sometimes give me the willies, they can be rather beautiful in their own creepy crawly kind of way. Will look up more info on orb weavers just for fun. Great website, love it!
1
¶ Posted 28 October 2011 § ‡ ° Orb Weaver catches Caterpillar in her web and encases it in silk.
Location: Cheney Kansas
October 17, 2011 8:16 pm
I rescued this spider at work from being chopped up by my weed wacker. I took it home and set it free in the garden.
The next day I searched the garden to see if she would cast her web in my yard . I found her Web and she had already caught several moths and was in the process of taking care of a White Lined Sphinx Caterpillar.
I’ve included several photos and you can really see in detail how she uses her spinneret to encase her future meal.
Signature: Chris Harris
Banded Orbweaver
Hi Chris,
Thanks so much for sending us your wonderful photos of a Banded Orbweaver eating a White Lined Sphinx Caterpillar.
Banded Orbweaver eats White Lined Sphinx Caterpillar
We don’t believe caterpillars are a typical prey for Orbweavers that tend to snare flying or hopping insects.
Banded Orbweaver eats White Lined Sphinx
1
Well hello…
Location: Corpus Christi, TX
October 17, 2011 3:28 am
This colorful spider made a large web on the porch. I’m from Washington State visiting Corpus Christi so I’m not used to seeing spiders like this. It was pretty large and moved quickly (saw it scurrying across the deck later that day). Can you identify it? Is it venomous?
Signature: Scott
Silver Argiope
Hi Scott,
Your spider is a Silver Argiope, Argiope argentata, one of the Orbweavers. Nearly all spiders have venom, but very few spiders have venom that is considered toxic to humans. We are less and less inclined to claim, as we once did, that a species is perfectly harmless, because for most people peanuts are perfectly harmless, though there are growing numbers of children with peanut allergies. The same may hold true for spider venom, and a person with a highly allergic reaction may be in grave danger after a bite that for most people is a slight annoyance. Orbweavers are very reluctant to bite, but that does not mean they will not bite.
1
¶ Posted 17 October 2011 § ‡ ° red-legged Nephila image on Google Image search results
October 14, 2011 10:18 am
I’m going to guess that this is NOT the sort of question that normally interests you guys, but I’m running into some odd (I think) data manipulation with regard to my image, and Nephila rufapoda in general. If you don’t mind, I’m going to send you a second image of the same red-legged Nephila from Taiwan. If you decide to publish that and comment on it, then I would expect it to turn up in Google Image search results -as did the first image of the same spider. It would be interesting to find out whether or not the image was subsequently removed.
I’m not usually like this, by the way. This is my first internet mystery.
Signature: Dane Harris
unidentified species of Nephila
Location: Taiwan
October 14, 2011 10:24 am
I have a second picture of that unidentified Nephila species from Taiwan. My friend Thomas Evjue has pointed out that the pedipalps on the critter in my picture are red, whereas the pedipalps in the only picture of Nephila rufapoda are black after the first joint. Is that enough of a difference to denote a different species, or could the difference be explained by geographic isolation?
Signature: Dane Harris
Golden Silk Spider
Hi again Dane,
We cannot say for certain if this is Nephila rufopoda, a subspecies or a different species. Thanks for sending another photo to accompany your previous photo.
1
uncatalogued Nephila species, or Argiope ocula?
Location: Taiwan
October 4, 2011 1:23 pm
Taiwan is full of amazing animals. Is this critter an example of Nephila, and if so, has the species been identified? Or is this gorgeous beast an Argiope ocula? I was very interested in the post by bugman on January 17, 2011, and the following discussion regarding genus and species. My first impression is that the spider in this picture and the spider in bugman’s picture are not the same genus -despite the similar translucent red legs. Bugman’s spider strikes me as Argiope, whereas this one appears to be Nephila. What do you think?
Signature: Dane Harris
Golden Silk Spider
Dear Dane,
We agree with your speculation that this is a Golden Silk Spider in the genus Nephila, and not Argiope ocula, the Taiwanese spider we posted in January 2011. Golden Silk Spiders take their name from the beautiful golden silk they spin, one of the strongest fibers that has been woven into clothing. You can read about the shawl that was woven by Golden Silk Spiders from Madagascar on the Ecouterre website. Your spider doesn’t look too different from the Australian Nephila rufapoda on the OzarkWild website that states this in its totality: “Nephila rufapoda Ross 2003 is about the biggest spider in Australia : with RED LEGS bigger than male handspan, totally new to science and a sensation, now in captivity, has bred and awaiting 2000 babies… I’ve just finished 494 night walks on a 3 year research project and what an incredible experience…
Nephila Rufapoda…locality Kuranda rainforest, 17 degrees south of equator, leg span 200mm, leg thickness letter ‘o’, large orb web high in canopy, (which is why not seen before). Eats small birds and cicadas, males 5mm rusty brown, related to other Nephila orb weavers but larger. At last count there were 28,700 spiders known from Australia BUT only 7,000 have been described. It costs up to $1,500 to describe a species and can take 3-4 years to get published. By ROSCO Dr R J Ross”
1
¶ Posted 04 October 2011 § ‡ ° Spider
Location: Dublin, Ireland
October 3, 2011 8:26 am
Hello,
This spider is in my garden, but I’ve never seen one like it before. What is it?
Signature: Claire
Cross Spider
Hi Claire,
Your spider is one of the Orbweavers, and we are nearly certain it is a Cross Spider, Araneus diadematus. Two Cross Spiders named Anita and Arabella were the first spiders sent into space aboard Skylab II as an experiment to see if Spiders could spin webs in space. They were chosen in part because the orb web of the Cross Spider is very regular. This European species has been introduced to North America where it has naturalized. You may read more about the Cross Spider on BugGuide.
1
¶ Posted 04 October 2011 § ‡ ° unknown arachnid
Location: Montgomery, Illinois (near Aurora)
October 2, 2011 10:03 pm
I sent you some pictures early in September of an arachnid that I could not identify. I have not yet seen a post of my picture or letter, but I have since found on your website a similar arachnid (posted March 5 this year) identified as a long-jawed orbweaver spider, and the photo from Bug Guide which you referred to in that post showed more clearly the resemblance. I am sending you another picture of my arachnid; there are some differences in that the body marking are different and the forelegs of my arachnid appear to be a bit longer. The plant it is shown on is a milkweed.
Signature: wildflower photog
Longjawed Orbweaver
Dear wildflower photog,
We apologize for not responding to your earlier email, because we would have surely posted the photos had we seen them. Alas, our tiny staff hasn’t the time to even read all the submissions we receive. You are correct that this is a Longjawed Orbweaver, but there are numerous species in the genus Tetragnatha. We have just identified your individual as Tetragnatha elongata, and it is a near perfect match to this photo posted to BugGuide. According to BugGuide, it is a wide ranging species in North America.
Longjawed Orbweaver
1
¶ Posted 02 October 2011 § ‡ ° Is this one of those Silver Argiope?
Location: Mansfield, Ohio
September 23, 2011 5:24 pm
OK so i am REALLY NOT a spider person but i have never seen this kind of spider. She hangs out on my garage door where here huge round egg sac is. I have read about the orb weavers but one difference i find is that she does not have a bumpy thorax. They also said they are not common in the north, i live in Mansfield, Ohio. She is full size cause i bet she measures if not a full inch close to it.
Signature: Freaked out by silver spider
Banded Garden Orbweaver
Dear Freaked out …,
You have the genus correct, but not the species. This is actually a Banded Garden Orbweaver, Argiope trifasciata. Like the other members of the genus, the Banded Garden Orbweaver is not considered dangerous, however, it might bite if it feels threatened or if it is carelessly handled.
1
¶ Posted 24 September 2011 § ‡ ° 
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