What kind of spider is this?

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"...but being a sucker for a spider?? Good grief."


O.K. Vera made me come honest here. My kid and I have been watching what we lovingly? call "Sam, the spider" outside our back door for almost 6 months. (Ozarkguy holds his head down in shame). But he's fun to watch on those late nights when absolutely NOTHING is happening, "hey look, Sam caught a bug" !

So yes, I don't like PETA, but if I cut down 12 trees to make room for a shed on my land, I plant 12 more trees somewhere else. If I have a creepy spider in the house, he probably won't last long. But out in the garden or somewhere to view nicely, I DO enjoy nature at it's finest...


Ozarkguy









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* Homesteading information at:

homesteadingwithozarkguy.com

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We get banana spiders around here. They're all named Elizabeth and nobody in our household is allowed to harm them. I look forward to them every year.

about banana spiders

Also Known as a Golden Garden Spider

Here's another link
http://www.sdnhm.org/fieldguide/inverts/argi-aur.html

Don't laugh, but I remembered this spider because my ds has a book called The True Book Of Spiders by the Childrens Press that we found at a Goodwill that he has had me read to him every night for the last 3 days...

Okay, between the Garden Spider photo, the Hobo spider photos & the banana spider photo I am sufficiently creeped out for the month.

Why do I click on those links!!?

I don't kill spiders at all if I can help it. In our house I'm the bug rescuer. When I see a bug or spider, I'm the one everyone calls to put it outside. DH can't stand spiders or insects of any kind!

When I realized that I had BOYS and would have to get used to having creepy-crawlies around the house (that's just part of boyhood, isn't it?) I decided to try to get over my fear of spiders. I went online and looked at tons of spider pictures, researched what were most common in my area and was surprised that rarely are spiders harmful or poisonous in our area! That cinched it for me.

Now my boys and I are always looking at spiders outside. I'm starting to find them fascinating and ALMOST cute. Sort of. But I still wouldn't want one on me.

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I caught a wolf spider in the house some time ago. I was not pleased as my son wanted to catch it...my dd on the other side of the room even tho she didnt even know where it was, and when I approached it with an empty butter tub it charged me...I stuck the tub outside under a piece of wood and left it there for dh to look at...he came home on his cell saying oh she caught a little spider and rolled his eyes...then he moved the tub and the spider charged HIM...so I said yeah now what do you say... he doesnt question any spiders I catch anymore.

Of coarse the last spider that came at me from the ceiling got squished with the broom. Several times in fact.

Oh my goodness, that is too funny, I didn't even see that little alien on her back!

I have to say we too were a little creeped out by them until everyone told me what they were. Mostly it's just because they are so BIG.

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Idleness is leisure gone to seed

I dislike spiders in general intensely, but I like those. We call them Garden Spiders around here.
The ones I HATE are the big brown spiders with huge pursey bodies that start building webs everywhere this time of year. I have had too many of these kind on my face and down my shirt from walking through the woods in the fall.......<shudder> That is one of the few things that can make me scream. Anyone know what type they are?? Ugh, just thinking about them is giving me the creepi-crawlies.

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

I dont like spiders and snakes, and that aint what it takes to love me......

I've always called them banana spiders, too.

We have them in VA too, call them Garden Spiders. Beautiful in the morning dew.

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Amanda

"Live and let Live!!!"

"Courage is being scared to death--and saddling up anyway" John Wayne

Spiders,snakes,mice,rats,bugs... I don't allow any of them in my house. They can do their thing outside. No roaches or ants or beatles either.

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Freedom isn't Free

Sheesh, am I the only person who ever made cord from the web??
It makes really strong cord, btw

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Vicker
If you're born to hang, you'll never drown.

Banana spiders are a different critter than a writing/garden spider.Equally huge,but twice as creepy.

It is a marbled or golden orb weaver (depends on who you ask I think). Most people just call them garden spiders. The bigger round bodied ones are even neater, but I haven't seen any of those down here, but you'd find 'em all over up north.

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My kids like to throw bugs (especially grasshoppers) into those spider webs too. They are disappointed if the spider doesn't immediately pounce on it and wrap it up. I kinda feel sorry for the grasshoppers.
I've got another good picture for you arachnophobes. Not sure what this one's called. I always thought THIS was a "garden spider". It's brown tho, and gets pretty big (this one was probably 2" long).
The only spiders I immediately squish without hesitation is Brown Recluse (we call them "BR's"). They are poisonous. You can recognize them by the fiddle-shape on their backs.
I'm in mid-Missouri.
OK, I was going to add the picture but how do you do it??
Debbie

They are also called argiope spiders:

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.ed..._aurantia.html

We just lost ours. She lived in the tomatoes for a while, then moved to the porch light area. Wednesday morning, I noticed that she was off of her web and hovering over her egg sac. Then she crawled up on the top of the deck support and died. It was sort of sad, although of course it's just the cycle that they live by. But yeah, it reminded me of Charlotte!

I miss her. But I don't miss dodging her every time we go in or out of the front door! I had one in my bedroom all one summer, she was too big to move.

Does anyone know if you can move the egg sac and have it be all right? It's attached to a temporary cover over the deck aka a tarp.

hollym

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Philo of Alexandria

I was out the other morning for walk and the fog was in and all the webs were covered with the moisture so i could see them there were hundres in the fields as i walked buy - it was breathtaking.

We had a huge garden spider living next to our electric meter but has unfortunately left recently when we had a couple of cold nights - she was absolutely huge and beautiful - we had watched her for weeks also. The rest of the spiders here i don't like - we have black widow and all sorts of other nasties.

Virginia sure has lots and lots of creepy crawlies!