id this spider raggie hates all spiders

Looks like some kind of "orb weaver" spider, but I'm probably not correct.
I don't know what species that is, sorry about that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

In any case, even though it looks scary and yucky and icky, I'm willing to bet it's completely harmless to people. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

That is a house spider. They are very common in Michigan, and probably in other places as well.

House spider page

Tastes better fried. They fall through the grill too easily!

I have a friend that has a "pet" spider he named Craig. He finds bugs to throw into his web and feeds him. Just the other day I was walking around my house to fill up a water bucket and found a web, I looked everywhere for some food but couldn't find any. I swear, I'll never be the same when out side.

That spider is nothing but abdomen.

It looks like it would be content to sit in its web and let things come to it.

I've been watching this wonder creature in my back yard the last few days:





There are 2 little males attending to her in the HUGE web. She's a "banana" spider. They do have a poisonous bite, but it's not too bad and they are not aggressive. I don't think you really get a good sense of scale from those pictures. She is HUGE!!!!! She is almost 5" in diameter with the legs and that abdomen is inches long. It's really a VERY impressive spider.

I haven't tried to chase her away, i'm enjoyoing the chats we have every morning when she tells me how many mosquitoes she ate during the night /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif but if she catches and eats the baby hummingbirds I've been enjoying in the garden then she'll have to go.

yeah ... ahem ... very lovely lady indeed ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif ... but I'd very much prefer her behind some 5mm glass ...
bernhard

james what camera did ya sue it looks more clear then my pic

I used to have pet tarantulas named Spidey and Christina.
Spidey was a male Mexican tarantula of some type (he was not a Mexican Red Legs), and Christina was a female Zebra Tarantula; also known as a Striped Kneed Tarantula.

Somewhere around here, in a plastic box, I have Christina's exoskeleton from when she last moulted.

I could handle Spidey without receiving a bite, but I did not handle Christina because that species can be a bit skittish.

James,
Nice!!! I remember when I was a kid going to disney world down in Fla. There was a nature walk (in the 'wild' so to speak) and there were several large Banana spiders there. I remember the webs of the larger spiders catching the baseball sized rocks I threw at it and holding them there! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif Those spiders get BIG!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Right now, I have a nice garden spider (or so I'm told, I think that is what it is) outside one of my living room windows that I've been feeding for awhile. It looks similar (colorwise and body shape) to a banana spider, but is smaller. It has about a 3" legspan right now. I'll try and get a good pic of it this weekend for all to enjoy! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

There are scads of yellow and black garden spiders around here. They can grow sizable - up to 4" legspan.

Sometimes I'll see a wolf spider (locals call them grass spiders) with a ~3" legspan. They avoid people just fine.

There are some interesting jumping spiders about - they have these hard-to-miss blue fangs and the tremendous primary eyes.

Now, the centipedes... they're rarely seen, but the 5-8" monsters are indeed prowling about the region. Every now and then someone will see a 12" mutant - usually a red desert centipede.

Hi Raggie,

That's a Black Widow, as non-intuitive as it sounds. You can tell by both the shape, the markings, and most importantly, the web pattern. Before a black widow kills a mate, it is actually light tan or even cream colored, usually with stripes on the body and darker bands on the legs. If you were to get a glimpse of it's abdomen you may be able to barely see an hourglass ( although it may be so light at this immature stage that it will be almost indistiguishable from the rest of her coloration pattern ).....or it may be white, or even the beginning stages of faded orange. There are so many variations depening on the maturity of the widow spider that most people don't even recognize them as 'Black Widows' until they're fully mature.

Don't let her immaturity fool you though - the bite would pack a whallop even though she's young.

Black widow and the red-backed spider which can be found in Aussieland are some of the deadliest spiders AFAIK. The problem is they tend to share their home with you. But is that really the black widow? I am not that sure. It sure does look like a house spider.

o ive seen a few black widows around here..i hate spiders this house is so old 9i bet they love this house

Nah, the redback isn't really all that bad. It will hurt like heck, but unless it bites a baby, I don't think it would be fatal. Besides, redbacks are really passive. You practically have to squash them before they will bite.

Have to watch out in wood piles though, 'cause that's where you're most likely to squash 'em. It's the funnelwebs you need to watch out for in Aussieland. Actually, in Aussieland it pays to steer clear of most of the creepies, especially if they're snakes.

Oh yeah, and watch out for those drop bears. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'm so glad we don't have Funnel Webs over in the US yet ( and hope we never get them ). Just the thought of those things scares the SH!T out of me !

[ QUOTE ]
Mednanu said:
Hi Raggie,

That's a Black Widow, as non-intuitive as it sounds. You can tell by both the shape, the markings, and most importantly, the web pattern. Before a black widow kills a mate, it is actually light tan or even cream colored, usually with stripes on the body and darker bands on the legs. If you were to get a glimpse of it's abdomen you may be able to barely see an hourglass ( although it may be so light at this immature stage that it will be almost indistiguishable from the rest of her coloration pattern ).....or it may be white, or even the beginning stages of faded orange. There are so many variations depening on the maturity of the widow spider that most people don't even recognize them as 'Black Widows' until they're fully mature.

Don't let her immaturity fool you though - the bite would pack a whallop even though she's young.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude...

And mean this in a funny, comical way...

You GOTTA be full of it!

I have tons of black widows around here and they are jet black w/ markings from babies to adults.

Mednanu, agree about funnel webs! I'm scared of any spider that wants to chase you down /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

There are several different species that are generically called "banana" spiders. including one really dangerous one in Mexico, but thats not what we have around here. My spider is the same family as the black widow, the venom is a similar neurotoxin according to the book I read about her, but it's not so bad and the spider is not driven to chase you down /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif People handling them have been bitten and not reported any ill effects other than the mildly painful red welt. But if you happen to have an allergic reaction, which can happen to the bite of even a very mildly poisonous spider then it can be VERY bad. If you already know you're allergic to bee stings or something, I'd be extra careful around these beasties.

Raggie, the camera is a 4+ year old, 2.1 megapixel Canon digital elph. It's been a great camera. I did finally have to get a new battery for it (takes a rechargeable LiIon) that I got from Battery Station /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif but otherwise it takes great pictures. It was very hard to get it to focus at all, I had to reach up and get the spider rather large in the center of the frame to convince the focus I wasn't trying to take a picture of the side of the house.

One good thing about living up here in the cold northeast is that no poisonous snakes or spiders save a very rare siting of a rattler in southern new england.