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anybody know what kind of spider this is?

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ashling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:15 PM
Original message
anybody know what kind of spider this is?
My wife and I took these yesterday afternoon in the front yard.
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johnnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:21 PM
Response to Original message
1. Yup
Edited on Sun Oct-14-07 11:23 PM by johnnie
They have been all over the news

http://www.wlbz2.com/news/watercooler/article.aspx?storyid=70002

Oh, they don't say what type it is.

Here is another story saying the webs have multiple types of spiders in the webs

http://www.heraldbanner.com/local/local_story_270005822.html
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ashling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:26 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. we are in Denton, whic is pretty near there
Edited on Sun Oct-14-07 11:27 PM by ashling
but your link still doesn't tell me what kindit is. Damn, now I hve to go look it up. LOL
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tandot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:23 PM
Response to Original message
2. A Garden Spider?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_garden_spider


Good to hear that they are harmless to humans. Boy, they sure look scary :scared:
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Mugu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 12:39 AM
Response to Reply #2
14. Some people call them Corn Spiders, some people call them Garden Spiders.
Regardless they are harmless to humans and eat many problem insects.



Regards, Mugu
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Gonzo Gardener Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:25 PM
Response to Original message
3. It is an Orb weaver - Argiope aurantia.
Perfectly harmless garden spider.
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ashling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:29 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. Thanks
I knew it was harmless, I just wondered what the name was . . . al the black widows live in the house.
:rofl:
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johnnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:29 PM
Response to Reply #3
7. I think you are correct
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Argiope_aurantia.html
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ashling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:47 PM
Response to Reply #7
11. Thanks, johnnie
Edited on Sun Oct-14-07 11:47 PM by ashling
That is a cool site. I had wondered what those zig zag structures were. Very interesting spider
:yourock:
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Richard Steele Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 12:51 AM
Response to Reply #7
16. Yup. Distinctive 3 different ways, and one of the only spiders that can be ID'd just by its web.
That thick "zig-zag" pattern of multiple strands just below web center.
No one knows what purpose that serves, but no other spider does it.
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SPKrazy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:26 PM
Response to Original message
5. big one
n/t
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ashling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:33 PM
Response to Reply #5
8. Thanks, Southpaw
good to know I can always count on you for technical info

:rofl:
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:35 PM
Response to Original message
9. ah, the deadly acid spitter.
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krispos42 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-14-07 11:37 PM
Response to Original message
10. There are only two kinds of spiders
The ones I've squished out of irrational fear, and the ones I haven't yet squished out of irrational fear.

:scared:
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Adsos Letter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 12:29 AM
Response to Original message
12. those top two shots would be good for the photography forum...
...just sayin'...

:D
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ashling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 12:32 AM
Response to Reply #12
13. I didn't realize we had one
thanks
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RushIsRot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 12:42 AM
Response to Original message
15. When I was growing up, they were called writing spiders because
of those zig-zags in the web. It was said if they wrote your name, you would die. They always had terrible penmanship as I recall, however.
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raccoon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 11:54 AM
Response to Reply #15
35. You beat me to the post, Rushis. I was wondering was I the only one who'd heard them called writing
spiders.

I also heard the superstition about them. Must be a Southern thing.
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Mugu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 01:12 AM
Response to Original message
17. Use a blade of grass or a feather to tickle their web.
And you can run them all over their web for fun. They have no aggressive interest in humans and are quite attractive to look at. Just because they have eight legs is no reason to be frightened of them.

Regards, Mugu
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ruiner4u Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 01:13 AM
Response to Original message
18. If I saw it, it would be a dead spider...
I dont deal with spiders..
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alphafemale Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 01:18 AM
Response to Original message
19. She's a garden spider, and she will be laying an egg sac soon.
Then she'll be considerably thinner.

We had a couple this summer. They are pretty neat.
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Jamastiene Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 01:54 AM
Response to Original message
20. Orb Spider, garden spider, writing spider, she goes by many names.
None as sweet as she actually is. I call them princess spiders, but that's my own concoction, just because I think they are so regal.

If she has already laid her egg sacs, she will be ferocious, which means if you touch her web, you'll feel some of the strength she has in her legs. She won't hurt you though, she's just pull her web up tight with her legs.

These are the spiders I like best of them all. I used to be a spider hater, but these are the spiders that broke me of that. The one in the picture is female. The males are smaller and not as colorful.

Gorgeous, ain't she?
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Skittles Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 05:23 AM
Response to Reply #20
22. same here
Edited on Mon Oct-15-07 05:23 AM by Skittles
I used to be afraid of spiders until I lived on a farm and one of these gorgeous zippers built a web in the corner by the front door every summer - just beautiful gals, so fun to watch - she'd even have a tiny, tiny mate.....although, I could have done without the carcass deposits (on the deck) from her many "snacks".

I got so unafraid of spiders I would pick up a wolf spider in the house and toss him outside, lest he become the cats' latest toy. :o
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Skittles Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 02:23 AM
Response to Original message
21. here in Texas we call 'em ZIPPERS
Edited on Mon Oct-15-07 02:24 AM by Skittles
best looking spiders EVER - absolutely FASCINATING :thumbsup:

They're ARGIOPES:

http://home.att.net/~larvalbugrex/argiope.html
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Phentex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 05:47 AM
Response to Reply #21
24. here in GA too. Zipper spider
we had a very cool web last year.
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Skittles Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 05:51 AM
Response to Reply #24
25. they are so beautiful
you can get pretty close to spy on them without them feeling threatened too
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Orsino Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 09:11 AM
Response to Reply #24
30. Or writing spiders.
They are cool, unless you go posting pictures of 'em on the Internets. Then they come to your house and spit venom at you.
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WilliamPitt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 05:31 AM
Response to Original message
23. I call those "aaaaaAAAAAA!!!" spiders.
Damn.

*twitch*
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stuntcat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 09:00 AM
Response to Original message
26. Fancy
the Fancy-Assed kind of spider. Your pictures are great, thanks for posting them! I love garden spiders, even if I'm still creeped out by them.
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Arkansas Granny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 09:05 AM
Response to Reply #26
28. I feel pretty much the same about spiders. If they are outside I can
tolerate them, but if they get into my living space they are called dead spiders. Other insects don't bother me and I can even handle snakes (except for poisonous ones), but spiders absolutely unnerve me.
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crispini Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 09:03 AM
Response to Original message
27. I have one of those sweeties right in my front window.
I call her "Charlotte" and she is most fun to watch. I have seen her eating her web -- they do that before rebuilding -- making her web, eating a bug, cutting a dead leaf out of her web (that's fascinating to watch!) and making her egg sac. She's quite a blessing!
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 09:09 AM
Response to Original message
29. The kind where if I got too close without knowing it, I'd shriek and run like a little girl.
Which would be quite the sight.
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LeftyMom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 09:15 AM
Response to Reply #29
31. Is there any other kind of spider?
:eyes:
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 09:22 AM
Response to Reply #31
32. Hush, you
I have little spiders all over my yard. No problem. It's the bigger ones (or any that get in my house) that I don't like.

So there.
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LeftyMom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 09:24 AM
Response to Reply #32
33. OMIGOD THERE'S ONE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!
Want a cat? Trin eats 'em. It's kinda icky when there's a squirmy leg hanging out the corner of her mouth, but my house is an arachnid (and cricket) free zone.
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Eurobabe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 10:40 AM
Response to Original message
34. A big fucking one!!
nice shot.
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CRF450 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 01:06 PM
Response to Original message
36. As a kid...
I caught a tree frog one time, and their was one of those big Orb Weaver spiders close by. So I tossed the frog into web and watched it become the spiders meal. I know I know, it was cruel of me, but it was just amazing seing that spider take down a frog.
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redqueen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 01:17 PM
Response to Original message
37. A beautiful one!
I love spiders. :)
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Thirtieschild Donating Member (978 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 01:20 PM
Response to Original message
38. Had spiders like that in Atlanta, always one on the front porch.
Called them golden orb spiders. Don't know where I got the name.
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CottonBear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-15-07 01:28 PM
Response to Original message
39. Garden or Orb spiders. They are very beautiful and eat bugs.
Edited on Mon Oct-15-07 01:28 PM by CottonBear
There are dozens at thearm where I board my mare. They are really neat to watch and they have really cool webs.
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