Hello, all:
I live in central Canada, and we have a HUGE spider that's spun a web just outside our living room window (third floor). Here are a couple of pictures of her (I'm assuming it's female because of its largeness):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/crowdog66/album2/ourspider2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/crowdog66/album2/ourspider.jpg
Her body, not including the legs, is about an inch long.
Any help that anyone can give in identifying her species would be appreciated.
2007-09-09 15:11:23 · 6 answers · asked by prairiecrow 7 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Looks like you've found an orb weaver. Commonly these spiders are called Night Spiders, Tree Spiders, and Fox Spiders. The Orb Weaver family is a large one including several species.
http://www.biology-blog.com/images/blogs/orb-weaver-spider-123101.jpg
The orb-weaver spiders (family Araneidae) are the familiar builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields and forests. The family is a large one, including over 2800 species in over 160 genera worldwide.
http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/okwild/misc/orbwea.html
This spider and several of its relatives are common here in the central U.S.A. You are likely correct that it is a female and these are generally harmless spiders that eat insect pests.
Jewelled Araneus Orb Weaver: http://images.whatsthatbug.com/images/araneus_heather.jpg
2007-09-09 16:03:54 · answer #1 · answered by mindoversplatter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Raji and the other poster are probably right but here we call them fiddler or barn spiders. I have seen them get up to 4 inches across and their webs are really strong. I was trapped in bed by a web from one of those years ago. The cats had moved a screen out of my window above my bed during the night and in the morning I woke to find a huge web that stretched from one bed post to the others over the top of my hubby and I. The spider that built it was in the center and it was huge. We had to crawl out from under the web to the sides of the bed and used a jar to trap the spider before we took down the web. The spider measured 4 inches across. We let her go in the barn. I was kind of creeped out even though I actually like spiders. There is something kind of icky about waking up like that.
2007-09-09 16:35:53 · answer #2 · answered by Praire Crone 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Google brown recluse spiders to peer graphics of them. I've been considering fairly just a little approximately brown recluse spiders myself in these days and feature determined to reserve a few glue traps to location round my apartment to entice any spiders that can be reward. Then I can both reassure myself that I shouldn't have the brown recluse or I may have the understanding I ought to attempt to rid my apartment of a damaging pest. And regardless of being a bio trainer, I am scared of spiders, too. I'd as a substitute see a snake or a mouse in my room any day.
2016-09-05 08:25:00 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it's an orb weaver. they eat mosquitoes, flies and other insects that happen to get caught in the web. Benificial spiders for sure.
BB,
Raji the Green Witch
2007-09-09 16:18:36 · answer #4 · answered by Raji the Green Witch 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It appears to be one of the humped species of Araneus, of
which there are more than one in central Canada. Without
a detailed photo of the underside it is not possible to
decide which one.
2007-09-10 05:54:09 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a species called "spiderus Charlotte-us". Watch that web for messages. ;-)
2007-09-10 15:21:18 · answer #6 · answered by Nightlight 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋