Spider O Door
My daughter found this long-legged fellow on the bottom corner of our garage door. Can you tell me the name of this spider please? This specimen is about 3 inches from tip of front legs to the tip of the rear legs.
Jeff Leckemby
Hampton , VA

hi Jeff,
This is a Nursery Web Spider in the genus Pisaurina. Research on BugGuide leads us to believe it is Pisaurina dubia. Interestingly, in the past several days we received another request for the identification of this spider, but we are so busy we put the email on the back burner. Sadly, we believe it has fallen behind the stove and we never had a chance to respond to the querant. Our workload and the vast numbers of identification requests we receive prevent us from answering but a fraction and posting even fewer. Thanks for your wonderful contribution.

why hello there…..PLEASE READ!
I have written you guys a few times….no, im not going to complain or anything. i completely understand you are busy and have lives! I have recently become addicted to photographing bugs and such. I like to identify what i find hence i came across your site. absolutely wonderful , by the way! for real i love it. well anyhoo, i take alot of these pictures and most are very closeup and detailed. they are pretty good if i say so myself. that being said, i have nothing to DO with them. i mean i post them on myspace but thats about it….would you mind if i sent you guys some photos with the bug names in the subject line and you can decide if you want to post them? i figured you could just look at the subject line and decide if you need a pic of that specific bug or not… also….i took this photo of this LONG-JAWED ORB WEAVER yesterday: then when i brushed his web with my lens he ran to a leaf and did this little falling on his back number: is that normal behavior?
Melissa

Hi Melissa,
Your Long Jawed Orb Weaver images are great. Many spiders whose webs are disturbed seek shelter in foliage. Including the name of the insect in your email would capture our attention and might result in a better chance of your photo and letter being posted. Also, we like getting details about the insect or experience of taking the photos.

Unidentified spider-Cyclosa???
Hello Bugman,
Was wondering if you can help me identify this spider. I live in Sacramento, CA and this spider currently lives amongst the papyrus plants in my pond. It builds a web between the tall fronds of two different papyrus plants (see pic) and then eats the gnats that get caught in the web. The plants are two feet apart from eachother, so I’m guessing that the spider swims from one plant to another to initially anchor it’s web? I’ve never witnessed it swimming though. The web generally measures about 2 feet across, because that’s how far the plants are apart from each other.
Based on your spider database, I feel like it looks closest to the Cyclosa family due to the oddly shaped abdomen, but I’m not sure. It I had to guess it’s size, I’d say it’s 1-1.5″ long, with it’s legs extended as in underleaf pictures. Thanks for your help and I love your site,
Leslie

Hi Leslie,
Your spider is a Long Jawed Orbweaver in the genus Tetragnatha. Most likely, the spider has a single anchor line to the web from which to rebuild each day, or that the spider drops a line of silk and the wind carries it to the opposite side. We do not believe the spider is swimming across the pond daily.

Spider photos
Attached are photos of a spider a worker at a local grocery store found in a bunch of organic bananas. He said the sider was inside a egg pouch with the spiderlings. He froze and destroyed the egg sac after he removed the adult. Is this a banana spider?

There are several unrelated spiders known commonly as Banana Spiders, including Golden Silk Spiders in the genus Nephila and Huntsman Spiders. One of the most commonly encountered Banana Spiders is Heteropoda venatoria, also known as a Giant Crab Spider. It looks like the spider in your photo might be a female Heteropoda venatoria.

Hi Daniel,
I sent the attached photographs to you some time ago and I never heard back so I assume they were lost. I’m still curious about the spiderlings, however, and I wonder if you have any thoughts. The pictures were taken in late May on our deck in southwest Oregon in a madrone/oak forest. Based on Bug Guide pictures, the spiderlings might be an Argiope or an Araneus species, but the adult looks like a jumping spider. When the adult appeared, the spiderlings ignored it, although they would respond by moving rapidly if I so much as blew lightly on them. I suspect that the adult is too small physically to be the mother and produce that number of eggs but, if I’m right, then what is it, and why weren’t the spiderlings frightened by it? It just doesn’t make any sense to me. I enjoyed the back and forth between you and Johanna and her nails. Your website is interesting, informative and fun, all at the same time, and I read it regularly. Thanks for your help.
Bob

Hi Bob,
You are correct that your spiderlings are Orb Weaver Spiderlings, probably Argiope or Araneus species. The adult spider is an Antmimic Spider in the genus Castianeira, probably Castianeira cingulata.

Black spider with a red dot
Hello,
Your site is so informative, it’s making me less afraid of spiders! We live in west Alabama and found this one in our kitchen. I don’t think it’s a black widow because the body really doesn’t seem to be the right shape, plus I didn’t see an hour glass on the its belly (but there is a tiny bit of red). Could you identity this mystery red-dot spider for me? Thanks,
Kelly B.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Hi Kelly,
Your spider is a Red Spotted Antmimic Spider, Castianeira descripta, which according to BugGuide, has been reported from Alabama.