Two Questions
Location: Long Beach
September 23, 2011 4:06 pm
Dear Daniel,
I love bugs and love this site so much. I find myself lost in the archives of such fascinating images and information often. I write for a collaborative blog called A COLLECTION OF (www.collectionof.org) I am going to be posting about an orb weaver (attached) and wondered if might be interested in doing an interview with us. (if you are I can send you the questions) We would be so thrilled to have you on the blog! Either way – if you can help in identifying this spider that would be great! I hope to be posting soon in conjunction with the spider pavilion exhibition.
Signature: All the best, Stefani

Western Spotted Orbweaver

Hi Stefani,
We sometimes have difficulty identifying the many different species of Orbweavers, but we believe this is the Western Spotted Orbweaver, Neoscona oaxacensis, which Charles Hogue, in Insects of the Los Angeles Basin, wrote is “our most common orbweaver; in late summer and fall, its moderate=sized webs adorn gardens everywhere in the basin.”  Thanks for your compliment.  Send your questions our way and we will try our best to answer them.

Spider Couple in the dew
Location: Southernmost Ohio
September 16, 2011 7:52 am
I took a visit to Southern Ohio, and while my goal was to look for snakes that we do not have in Northern Ohio where I hail from, my camping buddy and I ended up getting terribly sick and did not leave the campsite. This did allow me plenty of time to laze around and look for spiders though, and this must have been Orb Weaver city; Found so many! Most of them were easy to identify, but this guy and gal (I suppose I don’t know for sure that they are of the same species…) I am not so sure of. Probably didn’t help that I didn’t think to get a photo from the front! As always, love your website. Not only informational, but highly entertaining
Signature: Katy

Pair of Orbweavers: But What Species???

Hi Katy,
WE are sorry to hear that your camping trip did not turn out as planned, but we are very happy to post your fascinating photo.  We agree that this is most likely a pair of Orbweavers, with the female on the left.  She has a very distinctive profile, and we have identified similarly shaped spiders in the past, but we are not having any luck identifying your species on BugGuide.  Perhaps our readership will have better luck at an identification than we have had.

Creepy crawler in my roses
Location: Central Florida
September 11, 2011 4:14 pm
Dear Bugman,
My husband and boys were outside today trimming back some severely over-grown trees when this brightly colored horned little creature was looking up at them. She is absolutely gorgeous! We searched Google and believe it is a Tiny Orb Weaver?? My son keeps calling it a crab spider.Either way we wanted to send you the photo because it is one of the most amazing spiders we have ever seen. Do not worry, we never kill or move them out of the garden on purpose. She is currently recreating her web we so maliciously destroyed.
Signature: Your friends in Florida

Crablike Spiny Orbweaver

Dear friends in Florida,
You are correct about this Gasteracantha cancriformis being an Orbweaver, and your son has noticed its resemblance to a crab, hence the common name for this spider, the Crablike Spiny Orbweaver.

Poisonous?!
Location: New England
August 30, 2011 7:32 am
I found this spider dead and was unsure if it is poisonous or not. I have never seen it around here before and it makes me think it’s dangerous. I have young kids and am worried. Please respond quickly!!! Thank you,
Signature: A Ditressed Homeowner

Smashed Golden Orbweaver

Dear Distressed Homeowner,
All Spiders have poison, but very few are considered dangerous to humans.  Spiders are not generally inclined to bite people unless they are carelessly handled or threatened.  This stately Golden Orbweaver, Argiope aurantia, was a magnificent spider prior to being squashed.  Golden Orbweavers are not considered to be dangerous spiders.  Often people will smash spiders and insects because they are of the opinion that is it “just a bug” which we find quite troubling.  We cannot claim that a Golden Orbweaver would not bite a person or a small child, but Orbweavers rarely leave their webs, and if they do leave their webs, it is most likely that they were forced to leave their webs.  Conscientious gardeners will leave an Orbweaver in the garden, knowing where it has spun its web.  The Golden Orbweaver was the inspiration for the classic children’s story Charlotte’s Web.

Dear Bugman,
Thank you very much. The Golden Orbweaver was dead when I discovered it, but when I moved it to take a picture it got slightly squashed. I understand your concern and agree, bugs are very mistreated.

We Stand Corrected
All spiders do not have venom.
August 30, 2011 11:12 pm
Thank you for your interesting web site – I have been visiting it for many years now.
Just one query pls. Your regularly indicate that “All Spiders have poison”.
I was taught at varsity that the family Uloboridae does not have venom glands and the members are therefore not venomous. Was I taught wrong?
Regards
Deon, Pretoria, South Africa
Signature: Deon

Hi Deon,
Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention.  As we have stated in numerous locations on our website, we do not have science backgrounds, but rather, we are visual artists who have an interest in the lower beasts.  We decided to research this a bit, and have now learned that there is at least one family of spiders, Uloboridae as you have pointed out, that does not have venom.  According to BugGuide, these Cribellate Orbweavers or Hackle-band Orbweavers  are “unique among spiders in our area in having no venom at all.”  The Spiders of Australia website has a nice page on them that also points out  “Uloborid spiders are unusual in having no poison glands. They rely completely on wrapping their prey in silk.”  Alas, we doubt that we will have the time to make this correction in every location on our website, but we will be sure to not make this error again.