What kind of spider ?

jasonf · Aug 22, 2002

Guys:
Hanging over my doorway is a huger spider. She is the size of a dime and is all black except for a bright yellow diamond on her body. She has a large grey ball that I think is an egg sack. I have never seen one like this before and was wondering if it was a black widow spider of not. Anyone have any ideas ?

techman · Aug 22, 2002

Jason:

Sounds like what is called a common "yellow garden" spider. They have large webs with distinctive wide bars that are spun to attract certain insects. They get quite large, up to 2"+, with legs, and are usually more often seen late in the summer season. They are no more harmful to humans than any other normal spider. The grey ball could be an egg sac or just a wrapped-up mumified meal ready to eat.

paul

jasonf · Aug 22, 2002

Thanks for the info, the kids are terrified of it and won't use that door to out onto the deck. I have moved it gently into the woods along with its food or eggs.

RichZ · Aug 22, 2002

Jason, I'm impressed that you just don't kill it. Most people would!

Spiders are very beneficial, and we NEVER kill them either.

jasonf · Aug 22, 2002

I'm with you, each of these creature has a part to play in the ecosystem. and modern man is just starting to understand how their welfare affects our own.....

cstocks · Aug 22, 2002

For the most part I don't kill them either but they sure can be a nuisance when making the first run of the day down my four wheeler trails. I end up with about 20 ft. of spiderwebs all over my face, arms and torso and spiders in my hair, down my back and all over my fourwheeler. I don't purposely kill them but I waste no time brushing them off of me and if they get smushed in the process, oh well! Invariably some of the displaced spiders end up on my fourwheeler and decide that it looks like a good place to build a new home. By the next day my fourwheeler looks like a prop for a haunted house movie with spider webs spun from one end to the other!

RichZ · Aug 22, 2002

I'm thrilled to hear you say that. Too often people don't consider how the ecosystem works, and what each critter's function is. Most people want to wipe out anything that they consider to be any sort of problem. We have to learn that to break one link of the biochain can cause unfortunate results.

gobbler · Aug 22, 2002

Here's a little <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.upcrc.com/guides/houseid/orb.htm>Orb Weaver</A> biology.

Jim

BB_TX · Aug 22, 2002

We have lots of these large spider around here (N TX). Garden spiders</font color=blue>, sometimes called Banana spiders because of the yellow color.

Anonymous Poster · Aug 22, 2002

I'm a lot better around spiders than I am snakes.

I remember my first encounter with one of these spiders. I had gone to look at a house that we were considering buying. Regular house in a regular subdivision. It had a detached garage with a breezeway that had a redwood lattice to separate yard from driveway.

I was poking around the back while waiting for the realtor when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Don't know how it got there, but it was one of these spiders and he was on my shoulder. I think he was 8 ft in diameter and 4 ft tall AT LEAST. I sort of remember screaming something and clawing at my shirt while starting to run around. Unfortunately I ran right through that nice latticework. When I finally calmed down I have no idea what happened to that poor spider but the lattice was a mess. Hard to explain to the realtor what happened.

That was city boy meets garden spider. Since then I've seen a lot of them and have come to admire how beautiful they are as well as the good they do.

PS we didn't buy that house.