Not sure but glad its at your house and not mine.

Orb weaver.

Looks like an Agriope.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1189467827.jpg

http://canyoncrestgardenclub.org/gardening%20tips.htm

The web of the black and yellow Argiopes spirals out and can be two feet across. The female builds the large web and the male builds a smaller web on the outer part of her web. The male's is a thick zig-zag of white silk. Like all spiders, Argiopes use venom to subdue their prey, and they will bite if harassed. That venom, though, is apparently not particularly harmful to humans. If you find one living near your home, there is no need to be afraid or destroy it. Argiopes are not very aggressive, are reluctant to leave their webs, and they - like other spiders -are providing a beneficial service by feeding on pest insects in and around our gardens and homes.

Best,

Kurt

What's it taste like?

Chicken!

Hey Wayne,

that's a Golden Garden spider, Argiope aurantia and a big female at that. The male is smaller and black and usually hangs out around the sides of the females web. They are not dangerous to humans, only bugs. I work with venomous snakes and crocodiles all day, and I have to admit running into one of these girls webs is the only time I have ever screamed like a schoolgirl at work:eek:


John

Do they have them in the NE? I had some big ugly thing hanging out this weekend. It made a web with that exact same zigzag pattern. I thought the pattern was just an anomoly.

Pretty cool.

That would make a nice grill badge.;)

One of these spun a HUGE web across the outdoor lunch area where I worked about 6 years ago - huge spider, quite beautiful, real scary.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1189471786.jpg

I've seen lots like that. One had a web built right by the front porch light once in front of a window, so I turned the light on, opened the blinds and watched it for over an hour. Amazing thing. Scary as heck though.

We had them all over the place in TX. Nothing to worry about at all.

KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!


Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure!

We get some orb weavers too. Even though I know they're safe, they scare the bejesus out of me!

Here's a spider I found in Belize recently. It makes two types of webs, one really strong and one really sticky. It's a couple inches across. Notice his friend :):

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1189474976.jpg

As kids in NC we called those "writing spiders". The story was that if it wrote your name or anything that looked even close you would be dead in a couple of days. If you saw one it was your duty to put a bb through the head or gut before he had time to write any names. Worked every time for me and my buddies.

We called those "writing Spiders" when I was a kid in Tenn. I had several as "pets" and they are harmless. Freaked out the girls. Good times!


This quote is one of my all time favorites. It's from Aliens. Pretty sure it was Michael Bien (Terminator) that said it. After they found out just how bad things were, they were talking about taking off and nuking the site from orbit. Heh heh. Great movie.

If you want to preserve it, fill that jug with rubbing alcohol - the pigment will be saved and the spider will not rot. Thats what we do with the Black Widows

Wayne, for the love of God, stop torturing that poor animal in the upside down glass. and please don't kill it. release it in the back woods somewhere and let it go on... you'll feel better.

no, offer it for free on craigslist. Someone will surely call and come pick it up...

at least I'm memorable

SmileWavy

Infamous

Better to be noticed and remembered than ignored and forgotten regardless how I guess.

We have one that spins a fresh web nightly between the 2 columns at our front door. During the day, all you see is a single horizontal thread about 7-8 feet off of the ground, then it goes to work right after dark. It, along with all of the little green frogs have a feast out there!


"FREE BORIS"!!!!!!;)

Now, thats funny......I'll be right there to pick it up.........NOT!:eek:

Latest Microsoft Mouse - Spider Man edition?

I have a natural aversion to large spiders, ever since I ran through a large web in the hills around Dodger stadium when I was a kid. A large brown spider attached itself to me shirt pocket (temporarily).

Another time, a female Black Widow (emphasize w/caps) somehow managed to walk onto my car. FYI, females are quite larger than the male version which is often a meal for her when she feels like it.

While waiting to pick up my daughter from school, in my peripheral vision I noticed a large black object dangling from the open window - my side. Believe me, there are only a couple of options when you're belted in a seat and a Black Widow is about 10" from your face. If pissing in one's pants was an effective option, I would have tried it. Instead, I slowly opened the door to increase the gap between me and her, then I closed the power window. By that time, she lowered herself onto the ground (outside the door) whereupon I closed the door, all windows, maybe even the outside air vent and drove 30' away. That creeped me out for a few days. I wonder if she's still lurking under the car?

Sherwood

Good one... from our own Village Idiot...

WOW! That's a biggun and she sure is pretty (in an evil sort of way).

Folks have to remember that ALL SPIDERS are venomous. So any spider bite is likely to cause some discomfort but not all are dangerous. We get the orb spiders quite a bit though not that many this year (and I live around the same area as Wayne). For a while I was really freaked out by them but I am becoming more comfortable with them. I just hate it when the put their webs where I want to walk.

Geezus I thought I was the village idiot....Oh yeah I'm the one who pushes them down the stairs...I forgot.

My daughters, suffering from severe arachnophobia which their daddy has not been able to cure, would have had a massive coronary facing one of those.

Probably daddy too..

Why are people so afraid of spiders? Out of all the species of spider in the world I would think that only a very small number pose any risk to humans, yet even grown men are terrified of the things. I have to admit that they're pretty cool but I'm not keen on them. I will normally pick up reasonable sized ones with my hands to throw outside, but anything bigger than a quarter and I'm a little reluctant. Anything the size of this one is definitely going to be a 'catch it in a glass' job.
There must be some reason people find them so threatening, I wonder what it is?

Wayne, you are a good man! Every time my wife complains of a spider, I trap it and take it outside. Killing it and cleaning up a mess is not for me.

I think we had a thread here a while back about Black Widows. That stuff scares the $hit of out me. I was watching Survivorman the other night when he said a BW's bite can be up to 15x as powerful as that of a Rattlesnake. Snakes don't scare me in the least. But spiders give me the heebegebees.

Thats an awesome spider. I saw a bunch of really cool ones a few years back in Maui. Outdoors, I find them beautiful and fascinating. One that size indoors would need immediate removal.

speaking for myself...I think we fear them because they are so prehistoric looking. All those legs amd eyes and hairy bodies and with fangs...yeesh:eek:

ohh fcuk me, I'd freak out if I saw that thing.

I have a couple of those (garden spiders) in my yard. No big deal.

Last week, I did however have to identify a spider my wife found in the corner of our boy's room. It was (as she suspected) a Black Widow with the remains of Mister Black Widow in the web. I was not too happy about that one.

Okay, anyone want to help ID this monster moth, Seattle area, and was almost 3" nose to tail.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1189536338.jpg

That's a moth. A big moth.

That's easy...it's a Baby Mothra!;)

I wonder how many channels it can pick up on those antennae?

When I was a kid I was zipping down a trail on my dirt bike. I came around the corner to find that an orb weaver had built a web ACROSS the trail. Proving that motorcycles do go exactly where the rider is looking I ran right through the web. When I slid to a stop the spider was 2" from my face hanging from my duckbill visor! Let me tell you, there is a lot of goo inside of those things. Where ever those old gloves are, there are probably still some spider guts stuck to them.