Identify a few bugs for me

[jzmtl]

What's the real name of this one? I've always called them moisture bugs since they are all over the yard when there is dew.





And what kind of spider is this? It took up residence right outside my bedroom window, wondering if I should convince it to move.

 

[Empath]

The "moisture bug" was called a roly poly when I was growing up. I found later that some people call them sow bugs. Their real name is armadillidiidae.

I don't know the spider.

 

[lctorana]

Are the first two pictures of the same critter?

The first picture is what we call a "pill-bug" here, as it can roll up when it senses danger.

The second picture may be the same as the first, but if it is the one that can bend, but not roll up, then we call that a "slater".

 

[V8TOYTRUCK]

After seeing pictures of a brown recluse spider bite I decided to kill almost every spider I encounter. Last night I was actively taking out spiders with my flashlights + bug spray

Took out 1 black widow (1.5''-2.0'') and tons of other ones with red bellies and brown bodies.

 

[shakeylegs]

Hi jzmtl,
Not to alarm you but the spider looks a little like the one that got away here http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=6b176232-413f-41ad-99e2-be54a2fe3413 although the abdomen may be a little too round for a hobo spider. Perhaps it's a variety of Argiopes. Does the web exhibit a zigzag pattern of whiter webbing? If it's Argiopes it is not venemous.

Here's a guide to identifying poisonous house spiders that may be helpful.
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Glade

 

[bitslammer]

Spider is likely some type of orb spinner (family Araneidae). Usually harmless and also fun to watch each evening as they spin a new web. They also eat the old web from time to time to recycle the material.

I had 3 large ones (3-4") in my ornamental grass off the deck. Their webs were almost 2 foot in diameter. They kept the moth, mosquito, junebug, population way down at night. I enjoyed watching them in action, they enjoyed the ample food supply.

In SW Ohio the only spiders we need to watch out for are the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse. Both are extremely easy to identify and avoid. I don't tolerate them in the house but don't mind them at all in the shed and wood piles. Common sense things like shaking out gloves/boots before putting them on goes a long way toward not getting bit. Anyone who camps in scorpion land knows the drill.

 

[jzmtl]

Thanks guys. I'm far north enough that most of the poisonous spiders doesn't live here, but there are boatloads of spiders around, they even eat each other! I usually leave them alone since they keep the mosquito population down, but sometimes they make webs right in a passageway so I have to get rid of them. I think I'll leave this guy alone too, it's kinda cool to watch when it catches something.

 

[Mike 208]

The first bug is what I've heard called a "pill" or "sow" bug; the spider appears to be an "orb weaver" (can't identify what specific orb weaver it is, but I'm sure it's harmless).

V8TOYTRUCK;
I identify with you; Terminix is coming to my house tomorrow morning, to spray the yards for black ants and spiders (black and brown widows, as well as "Daddy Long Legs"). Over the counter bug sprays are so watered down they are almost worthless, so I gave up using them. FYI, in case you don't already know, the brown widow spider (not to be confused with the brown recluse spider) is more poisonous than the black widow spider. Be careful in dealing with them.

 

[jzmtl]

No kidding about the over the counter bug spray, they don't do jack even if you manage a direct hit.

Why daddy long legs thou, they are pretty harmless.

Man this is cool, another darker smaller spider is trying to take over the territory or something, it's sitting on window frame while the orb weaver is sitting three or four inches away on its web looking at each other.

Well the smaller one ran off and it's rebuilding the web destroyed from early heavy rain.

 

[bitslammer]

Could be a male. In many spider species the males are smaller and look nothing at all like the females. They may not even exhibit the same web building behavior.

 

[Pellidon]

In my neck of the woods, we called them tumble bugs.

 

[Mike 208]

jzmtl;

The daddy long legs are indeed harmless, but they're out of control at my house. They are getting inside the garage and the house; it seems like one minute a corner of the house is clear, and the next one of these spiders has taken up residence. It's gotten too far out of hand.

 

[matrixshaman]

Funny all the different local names for the bug in the first two pics. Where I grew up they called them potato bugs. I have no idea why as they didn't attack potatoes. They were always friendly and fun to play with - quite harmless.

 

[StarHalo]

The correct formal name for the first bug is "Wood Louse", not that this helps since they don't live in wood, they're not lice, and beyond that, *they're not even insects*. They are in fact crustaceans - if you had a good enough microscope you could see that they actually breathe through gills. The very first creatures to ever leave the ocean and walk on dry land were probably very similar to the wood louse.

The spider looks like a member of the orb weaver family. Like most larger spiders, even if it's not venomous it still has a sizeable pair of fangs that could give a nasty bite. Best to leave it undisturbed as they're top-notch insect removal anyway.

 

[jzmtl]

Yes that's what I plan to do, leave it there to eat all the mosquitos around. Last night I saw another smaller one dragging an egg sack that's bigger than itself around when walking around the yard with flashlight, there are a lot more spiders here than I previsouly thought.

 

[Black Rose]

Our spider population has dropped significantly since we installed yellow CFL buglights.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

That first "bug" is known to me as a "pill bug", a "sow bug", and a "doodle bug" - even though it is not an insect at all.
A very easy eay to tell this is to count the pairs of legs.
If it has three pairs of legs, it's a true insect.
But if it has fewer or more pairs then it it is not. :thumbsup:

The spider definitely looks like an orb weaver to me.
They're not venomous to humans, but depending on the size of the creature, these spiders can still inflict a painful & nasty bite if they're molested or handled.

 

[asdalton]

Nearly all spiders are venomous. The question of whether the venom is dangerous to humans is another matter.

 

[BrighTor]

They're called roly polys (or maybe rollie pollies) down here in Florida. LOTS of fun. We used to catch handfulls of them and let them swarm over our hands and arms. Although the ones I played with were more grey than brown, and the ones pictured look very brown-ish.