Is there anything on the Internet that will help me to identify a spider?

Question

I have a huge orange spider in my windowsill. I have been looking all over the internet to find out more about this spider. I dont know if it's poisonis or not so my kids have been staying in doors. A short discription of this spider is it is orange with a big ball body , orange and black striped legs that are long. It made a web that is about 4 feet wide and 3 feet across. I live in colorado usa . Any help is much appreciated!

Answer 1

Your description sounds like the orb-weaving spider Araneus marmoreus, the marbled spider.
Although my reference that gives distribution of
this species does not list it from Colorado, it does
occur in Utah and Wyoming, so Colorado is also
a possibility. It is not a poisonous spider in the
sense of being harmful to humans. If it did bite a
person, which it isn't much inclined to do, the
result would probably be no worse than a bee
sting, if that. It might have no effect at all.

Answer 2

Here is the spider identification link to Coloradan spiders at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science...just follow the links till you find your spider!

It's very unlikely to be poisonous, and even if it is it won't just "jump up" and bite you! You should avoid making your kids afraid of something it would be a waste for them to be afraid of if you can!

There are only three spiders in Colorado that you should have any concern about, the Black Widow, and two species of Miturgidae spiders, Cheiracanthium mildei and Cheiracanthium inclusum, commonly called the yellow sac spiders, and an Agelenidae spider, Tegenaria agrestis, commonly called the hobo spider. None of these look like your spider!


http://www.dmns.org/spiders/id.html

Answer 3

From the Denver Museum of Nature and Science:
http://www.dmns.org/spiders/id.html

Its not poisonous since your description does not fit the few which are. Most are not in the U.S.

Here is a nice site to look at poisonous spiders:
http://www.termite.com/spider-identification.html

Answer 4

I hope Beetle finds this question and helps you.

In the meantime, here are two great sites for arthropod identification:

http://whatsthatbug.com/
http://bugguide.net/node/view/1954 (this is the node for spiders)

and a more specific one with links to keys and guides:
http://www.arachnology.be/pages/Identification.html

I specially recommend Bugguide (second link).

Oh and btw, there are not many really dangerous spiders (although of course all can bite and cause local reactions), and most are not aggressive either. If you're in doubt, you can relocate it (see instructions in the BugGuide link).

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

Try searching for a complete spider dictionary or encyclopedia.

Answer 6

try googling "spider identification"
it sounds like a garden spider
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=DGUS,DGUS:2006-15,DGUS:en&q=garden+spider