This spider’s wheel shaped round web made identifying this striped legged spider easier. Orb-weaver spiders are the most common garden spiders and love to hangout in the middle of their round webs.
This chromatic spider made a web marvel between two large yucca plants. It was a medium sized spider, a bit scary looking up close; but I was so intrigued with her massive silky web!
The insect that wonders into the female Orb weaver’s viscid web will receive a quick stunning bite. This spider has over 3,000 species and belongs to the family Araneidae.
Within a few minutes an insect settled on her web and provided a meal for this female Orb weaving spider. All Orbweavers spin webs. According to bugguide.net: Female Orb-weavers spin the webs and are seen more often than the male spiders.
It is late summer and spiders are everywhere! Fall is typically the time the female Orb weaving spiders will lay their last clutch of eggs. The spider eggs survive the winter and will hatch in the spring.
Another female Orb weaver was nearby on her wheel shaped web. This spider was gray colored with striped legs and a white design on the abdomen. The white design on the spider’s abdomen is clear in the photo below.
Orb-weaver spiders only bite if they feel threatened. Their venom is not harmful to humans. The bite of Orb weaving spiders feels like a bee sting. They stay active at night rebuilding and repairing their round shaped webs.
Are Orb-weaver spiders poisonous? Spiders have venom. Orb-weaver venom is potent but this spider venom is NOT dangerous to humans. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_an_orb_weaver_poisonous
Orb-weavers and all members of the family Araneidae have eight similar eyes in 2 rows of four. The spider’s eyes are pretty clear in the photo above.
In the picture above, this species has 2 white spots on a large abdomen.
Orb-weaver spiders can help control your mosquito population and are considered beneficial to have around!
For identifying the spiders I posted today:
- gray, brown colors
- striped legs
- spider with yellow markings on the abdomen
- 2-5 white spots underneath the belly
- spider with white markings on a gray abdomen
Your description leads me to believe the spider on my back porch is an orb-weaver. I have made peace with her coming out each night and building her web. Tonight I watched as she prepared her egg sack, gathering the web and drawing it up around the sack – quite neat to watch. I am now trying to decide if I need to kill off the sack, and in the process likely the momma orb-weaver also. The spider took the sac up into a corner of the porch rafters about 6 feet from my porch door which leads into my bedroom. I am worried that when the eggs hatch I will face some inside orb-weaver guests.
Any advice?
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Thank you so much for your photos and information. I have a very large female orb weaver with white spots on her abdomen. She lives outside my front door and spins a tremendous web evry night in a large hole in the back of one of my bushes. It is directly across from our porch light. Although very beautiful and intriguing I was worried that this spider was poisonous. Im very pleased to learn that I can watch her make these ama ing webs each night without being worried that I was being irresponsible for letting her live there. She is very large and only comes out at night, none of us would dare threaten her. Thanks again for the information. P.S. We have named her Arrigog, Harry Potter fans will appreciate that name.
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Great Comment Janet and Great name for your Orb Weaver! It is amazing to watch those females fix their webs every night. Hopefully she will get some of the gnats from all this humidity 🙂
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I mostly see her with Japanese Beatles. Do these spiders shed their exoskeletons?
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Great Question Janet! Yes they shed or in spider talk “Molt”. The exoskeleton is made up of protein molecules in layers, like the grains in wood. It keeps the spider from drying out, but it cannot expand. The spider has to molt in order to grow. When your spider, Arrigog, is molting, she will probably hide because the new exoskeleton takes a day or 2 to harden. Often the spiders coloring gets more vivid from its shedding.
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Thank you so much for sharing this! I’m in NE Ohio and have what I now believe to be two decent sized Orb spiders on my back porch. Had it not been for your article I wouldn’t have been sure because their webs are not what I typically associate with orb spiders.
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i feel bad I killed one the other day- scared to get bit or have one bite my dog- now knowing they are not dangerous to humans i shall not squash the next one. 😦 now i feel bad since i don’t really like killing anything unless its threatening…
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I just caught one with a red body what is it????
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l read the post twice ,very interesting .Nice of you to keep in touch ,l appreciate that a lot.Have a beautiful day.Jalal
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Nice photos Tj. Interesting to note that you also have lots of spiders at this time of year… my favourite one is a yellow striped one called the Wasp Spider. It’s very pretty in the sunshine! It weaves its web close to the ground between plants, and we see quite a few in autumn.
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Cathy there are so many spiders out now! It is getting close to fall so the females will be laying their last egg sacs. Hope you can get a picture of a Wasp Spider, would love to see it 🙂
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Not sure if these chills down my spine mean I should click like or just click away silently. >_<
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I know what you mean LifeofBun, they are scary looking but are good to have around! Thanks for commenting.
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that spider looks very similar to the one that was in our tree the other day 🙂
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Yes they are so popular and come in many colors and designs!
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