Spiders
 

Well, this guy is now living at my front door. He's only a few inches across, not like a full size St. Andrews Cross. Just a baby.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1625023750.jpg

Years back my sister had a large wood spider living outside her front door. She & her husband bought another home and moved. On one of the last days, she trapped the spider in a jar and let it go on a tree outside the new home where it lived for a number of years.

We've got a good sized one in the tomato patch.

I just learned that the heavy zig-zag pattern in the middle of the web is exceptionally bright in ultraviolet, while the rest of the web and the spider itself is invisible. The web looks like an inviting pretty flower blowing in the wind to an insect (they often see in ultraviolet).

I expect if Mrs. Beard sees him, he's dead.

If I saw a spider that large on my house there'd be another flatbutt here yes sirree there would.

I don't usually like a big spider hanging out too near where I walk and might get a web to the face.

But, these are pretty neat. I wouldn't want to walk into their web though.
I believe this is what you've got.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia

It could be worse, I ran into this guy while mowing the lawn the other day.
https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/tarantula/
I took a few photos and left it to do it's thing. It was timid (tried to hide when I tried to get a photo from the front.) and just wanted to be left alone which I was happy to do.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624115531.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624115531.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624115531.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1625058261.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1625058261.jpg

We had this guy, or gal I can't tell, living in our back yard on a Crape Myrtle tree. It was in an area at the back of the property, next to our kio pond. Lots of bugs to eat. I think one of the other critters in the pond area, a skink, ate the spider. When the skink population exploded most of our spiders seemed to vanish.

We have lizards. Lots of them in different colors. Hardly anything that lives on the walls or ground has survived. I once trapped a black widow and presented it to a lizard nearby. Once I stepped back only about 2 steps, that lizard charged and chomped the BW in one bite.

Alligator lizards (mostly what we have) are not affected by a BW venom.

If I water the garden with a hose, the lizards gather nearby and watch carefully for insects dislodged by the flooding. Same when I till the soil, they are all there within 3 feet. They are almost tame. When I step back with the shovel they immediately patrol the new dirt.

Since the coyotes have killed all outside cats, the lizards are free to roam.

chit. nightmare theme for tonight has been determined.

i would be looking for a wooden match and a can of hairspray.

We have blue tailed skinks now after we put in the koi pond.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1625069552.jpg

This a juvenile and the blue tail goes away as they mature and get bigger.

The spider population plummeted around our house once the skinks showed up. We have lots of toads as well.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1625069712.jpg

The lay a zillion eggs, the koi eat all they can, and then eat the tadpoles. A few dozen baby toads emerge, and if they get too thick we gather some and take them to a local creek and sing born free.