Venusta Orchard Spider (I think)
Location: Central Florida
August 9, 2011 9:53 am
2 Different views (ventral & dorsal) of the same spider.
Signature: Kathy

Orchard Spider

I didn’t really need an ID. I just wanted to know how the website worked as far as uploading photos. I don’t see the 2 photos I uploaded and was just wondering how it worked.
I guess the answer is that you get so many submissions that you can’t get to all of them! LoL
Thanks anyway!
Kathy Mayhew

Orchard Spider

Hi Kathy,
Your spider is definitely one of the Orchard Spiders in the genus Leucauge, and we believe it is Leucauge venusta even though there is more magenta in the spider’s body than we generally see.  We closely monitor the content on our site and our editorial staff posts all selected identification requests.  We do not allow contributors to post directly, except in the comment section, but even there we can remove any inappropriate content.  Though we do not consider ourselves to be a children’s website, we do take pride in being child friendly, both in our content and in our advertising.  We do not allow adult ads despite that they are quite common on television.  Our Facebook pages and Twitter pages are more of an open forum, and we do not monitor that content as closely.  That is an excellent place to get the opinions of our readership as opposed to the opinions of our editorial staff.

orb-weaver?
Location: Gulf of Guinea, West/Central Africa
July 19, 2011 7:31 am
I have many photos from a trip to Bioko, Equatorial Guinea. I’ve been floating around this picture in hopes of identifying this spider but most of Invertebrates I photographed have been very difficult to ID. Please have a look if you can:
Signature: Thanks, Nathanael

Please resend and attach the spider photo.  We cannot grab the image from FlickR and we want to post the image before we begin the research.

Here you go.  Could you please give attribution if you post the photo.  Would you like me to send all of the photos I have questions about?

Unknown Orbweaver

Hi Nathanael,
This is sure one interesting Spider.  We agree it is most likely one of the Orbweavers, but we don’t even have a clue at the genus.  As you might have realized, researching African bugs doesn’t always produce satisfactory results.  We are posting your letter and image and we hope eventually we will get an identification.

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green & chrome spider
Location: New Jersey
July 1, 2011 4:45 pm
Just curious to know exactly what kind of spider this is? Found it in the garage today and thought it was odd since I lived in this area for 40+ years and never saw one like it. Color is hard to see in pix but the sliver part is highly reflective almost like a mirror and the green is day-glow neon. Built a 2 foot diameter web overnight and it wasn’t in my way so I left it alone. I know bright colors in nature means toxic or deadly to predators so what is this guy packing?
Thanks.
Signature: Mike

Orchard Spider

Hi Mike,
This beautiful spider is an Orchard Spider, Leucauge venusta.  Many individuals also have bright orange spots.

Hello Daniel,
Thanks!  I don’t believe in killing stuff and I leave them where I find them; he’s made himself  a nice home in the garage and that’s where I’ll leave him.  Thing is though, I use the garage as my shop daily and didn’t want to leave something potentially hazardous in there.  I always say everyone needs a home & everyone’s got to eat so we welcome all who find their way here.  You should see the looks I get when I show people the bee houses and bat boxes we installed, but after they overcome their misguided fears (and watch me pet the bumblebees on their backs) they leave with a new found respect for things.
This isn’t my first time on your site; a few years ago you identified 7 spotted beetle larvae for me which we now anxiously await thier return to our foundation walls every April.  When they first appeared, I emailed pix to an exterminator to identify them and he said “I dont know what it is but I’ll kill them for you.”  That’s when I found your site and I called him back to let him know they were beneficial.  Good thing I found your site because after they turned into Ladybugs, our aphid problem disappeared.  Before the beetles arrived for the first time, we spent hundreds of dollars a year to rid the aphids and they still were a serious pest killing many of our plants each season.
Keep up the good work!  The knowledge you share really makes a difference!
Thanks Again,
Mike

Thanks for the update Mike.  It is nice to know we have been helpful.

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Might be a Silver Orb Weaver?
Location: near Savannah, GA
June 14, 2011 2:32 pm
We get a lot of orchard spiders and gold silk orb weavers, but this guy is different. I can’t seem to find clear pictures of a Silver (Argiope argentata) to compare him to. What do you think?
Signature: Red Chloe

Immature Golden Orbweaver

Dear Red Chloe,
We are trying unsuccessfully to put a dent in all the identification requests that were sent to us in the past week while we were out of the office.  This is an immature Golden Orbweaver, Argiope aurantia, which you may compare to this image posted on BugGuide.  The Stabilimentum that this individual has woven into its web is distinctive, though the pattern changes as the spider matures.  The Stabilimentum is thought to act as a camouflage for the spider, though its exact purpose is not clearly understood.   Many members of the genus Argiope spin a stabilimentum and this has given rise to the common name Writing Spider.

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