What is your favorite spider?

Question

Which species of spider is your favorite, any ones are good, even Theroaphosids.....
Tell me why, and maybe attach a pic for some brownie points....
Best one gets 10pts!
I know Im not the only spider lover out there.............

Answer 1

I'm saddened by the number of people who seem to want all spiders dead :(

Spiders are very good critters to have around! Even the potentially dangerous ones like brown recluse and Sydney funnel webs do a lot more good for people than harm! They eat all the bugs and other vermin hanging around your house and yard, and cause far fewer injuries than people claim. Spider bites are one of the most over-diagnosed injuries out there. Virtually every time a doctor says someone has been bitten by a spider, the true cause is something else. Chemical exposure, bed bugs and even diabetes have gone mis-identified because doctors are all too quick to shuffle someone out the door with a diagnosis of 'spider bite'.

So to combat that, I present one of the cooler spiders out there: Dolomedes triton, the fishing spider. Even though it is quite large, the fishing spider is able to walk on the surface of ponds and puddles by spreading its weight out over its long, hydrophobic legs. They will reach under the water's surface and grab their prey, and are able to take things as large as tadpoles and even fish!

http://bugguide.net/node/view/43935/bgimage

Although, in all fairness, I must say that this is one of the few spiders I've actually been bitten by.

Answer 2

I love Misumena vatia...The Goldenrod Crab Spider....Last year when I was in my backyard, I noticed something yellow on the Viper's Bugloss that grows there. It really stood out because it was so vividly coloured and contrasted with the bluish purple flowers of the plant...I was intrigued so I went up to look at it and saw a big yellow spider that was posing with its legs spread wide and held together...it was so cool! I had never seen one before and I made sure to look at it very carefully and noticed it had orange markings on its sides and it almost looked surreal because of the colours and smoothness of the body, it was pretty big too and I took a little piece of grass and held it close to see what it would do, and sure enough it grabbed hold of the grass quick as lightning, it almost scared me because I didnt expect it to be so quick! LOL It took me a long time to find out what kind of spider it was on the net since I had no Idea of the name or anything, but I finally found it after trying every possible name for "yellow". I couldnt believe what I learned! No wonder I had never noticed one before...they can change colour and usually lay in ambush on the blooms of Goldenrod or white flowers because they can match thier colour to the flower...lucky that the one I saw hadnt changed colour to white yet or it wouldnt have been as noticeable. I kept an eye on the spider for several days and saw him catch and eat many bees and other pollinating insects that were twice as big! What a wonderful hunting technique they have, and beautiful colour and shape...It has been my favorite spider ever since, although I havent been lucky enough to see one again your question reminded me of what an interesting creature the Goldenrod Crab Spider is...

http://bugguide.net/node/view/6749/bgpage

The one I saw looked like this one... http://bugguide.net/node/view/24693/bgpage

Answer 3

Boy, that's a tough audience! As someone who has also studied spiders I have nothing but admiration for their diversity of form and adaptations (which I don't think anyone can deny are phenomenal). I have always told people who are afraid/hate spiders to just spend a half hour one evening watching one build her web and that most of that fear will evaporate.

One of my favorite spiders is the bowl and doily spider, because of the complexity of its web.

http://www.giantspider.ca/spider/images/frontC1.JPG

But I really don't think it's fair to play favorites, do you?

Answer 4

Chilean rose haired tarantulas!! I love mine! He is very docile, actually seems to like being held. If I open the cage to hold him, he will wait by the edge of the cage until I put my hand down next to the corner, then he will just climb happily into my hand. And of course he's cute =). I also have a California brown tarantula which is pretty nifty. Wolf spiders are pretty nice, quite a few of them have chosen to live in my apartment. They are good roommates, except when you come face to face with them in the shower unexpectedly.

Here is a picture of my rose hair tarantual, Arachne =) ...

http://www.maevinwren.com/Arachne3sm.jpg

Answer 5

I would say the camel spider because it's huge, but as I'm sure you know, it's really more of a scorpion.
Therefore...Brown Recluse. It's bad a$$, and a lot more common than people think.

Answer 6

My only favorite spider is the squished spider. By the way, they love eating beetles.

Answer 7

Absolutely none! I am scared to death of them. Snakes I can handle. But it is the spiders that get me. I wish that I was not so scared of them, some of them are quite interesting, and beautiful.

Answer 8

I like Texas Tarantulas. I see them almost all the time where I live. They're pretty neat. But I have cats and God knows what would happen if I had one and my cats got to it somehow.

Answer 9

Golden Garden Spider....Harmless and have extordinary webdesigns

Answer 10

I like the rosy tarantula (Haired)? I had one a long time ago and found out I am allergic to their hair, cause bumps all over my hands and arms! yuk