Help ID this monster

Myker

Myker

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Hey folks,

So im at the Pomona Fair in So. Cal. a few weeks ago with the family, out back of the indoor flower exhibit, the little guy enjoying the coy pond when i turn around and spot this beast,
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Scared the bejeesus out of me, thought it looked kinda weird to be found in So Cal. Maybe hitched a ride from some place afar id guess. Anyone have any idea what the hell this is, a spider for sure, what kind, where from... :confused:

Thanks for the help.
 
Don't know the technical name, we used to call them orb spiders. They're bug eaters, but like to build their web between bushes/trees and catch them in the air. I rode into one on a trail in the Everglades. Needless to say, I was unhorsed and quickly cleaning myslef to make sure he didn't win. Span of about 3-4".

Larry
Tinkerer
 
These are cool spiders to observe. Watch one weave a web sometime. They use one foot to place the sticky strand as they travel around the web. IIRC, each spider has it's own distinct pattern that it weaves. For observation purposes, catch a bug and toss it into the web and see how the spider reacts to it's prey.
 
I've counted about two dozen of those on a single day hike here in Taiwan. And that's not including the tiny, non-threatening males.

I don't like spiders, but these are beautiful especially in the sunlight. Apparently they've been known to eat small birds. Their webs are larger than my bed.
 
I see spiders like that around the house all the time. Around here people just call them writing spiders.
 
Black and Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia)
 
Another name for them is Garden Spider. Very common around here in central Illinois. We used to throw grasshoppers in their web when we were kids, and were amazed at how fast they could spin them up.
 
I found one of those in my blackberry bush this summer. very neat webs. when i was looking for information I found out that the male is always on another web right by the female. i went out and looked and sure enough he was right across from her on his own web. they get big and sure do have some bright colors
 
We call them Banana Spiders. There all over the place. Last year we had one in our Oak tree, and my boys watched it almost every day. Very large, but harmless.
 
We just call them garden spiders. I was in Jamaica once and saw what appeard to be the same spider, but a whole lot bigger and all over the place!
 
Well, not to be negative, but I really hate spiders. All of them. I have a zero tolerance policy against spiders, especially in my house and on my property. Had I seen that bannana garden orb weaver whatever you call it I probably would have introduced it to the business end of whatever EDC blade I happened to be carrying that day. One less spider in the world.
 
Growing up in upstate NY, we called them garden spiders. We liked to catch insects and toss them into the webs, those spiders made short work of them. The only thing I didn't like was when walking through fields of tall weeds, you would invariably pick one up as a hitchhiker. They liked to crawl upward, and the first sign that something was amiss would be when you felt them on the back of your neck.
 
down south we call then writing spiders because of a zig zag pattern in their webs. like every one said harmless bug eater but my boy's love to watch them.
 
We have them in FL, I have heard them called Banana Spiders & Golden Silk Spiders, some can get HUGE, webs from tree to tree and bodys almost rivaling baseballs, I might be wrong but I think they are the largest non tarantula species of spider in the U.S.


edited to add: they are harmless to humans
 
Just adding to the pot since this has changed more from identification to finding out what the spider is called in different areas.

I've always known them as banana spiders- North-West Florida

They're fairly common here, I am told that the weaving pattern in the middle of their web is to help larger animals such as birds see it so that it is less likely to get flown through.

Edit: It also seems that the one you got a picture of isn't a real spider anymore, seeing as he only has 7 legs :p

And towards the spider haters: Spiders are our friends, they eat other bugs that are a much greater danger to us. The only spiders I can see people being worried about are those that are dangerous to humans (brown recluse, black widow, etc.) As long as you are educated and intelligent you have nothing to fear from spiders, and quite a bit to gain.
 
See the same spiders around North Texas all the time and we call them cotton or field spiders. Remember throwing a few grasshoppers in their webs just to see how quick they really are.
 
Txknifefan said:
See the same spiders around North Texas all the time and we call them cotton or field spiders. Remember throwing a few grasshoppers in their webs just to see how quick they really are.
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Yep, but I just call 'em garden spiders. I lived on a small horse ranch NE of Denton for a short while a few years back. These critters were all over the place. They'd set up shop anywhere, but my favorite place was out the back door. They'd spin a web from a utility pole down and across to the top strand of the barbed wire fence. It was neat to observe them over the course of a few weeks. Their webs are quite hearty. I had one spin a web in the back of my truck, and it rode with me on the 80 mile round trip to and from work for two or three days that week.
 
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