US: Washington DC suburbs - scary-looking orbweaver spider photos and a happy tree chaser

[untonuggan]

Hello! I just moved to a new place within the Washington DC Metro area, and my new place is a lot more nature-filled than the other one. This is exciting! More trees to play in! Walking paths!

Also, hello, lots and lots of spiders. I'm a big fan of the butterflies, but I could have...no, I guess ultimately I couldn't have lived without the spiders.


But I was a little freaked out to encounter this guy (and it is a guy) until my partner did Srs Internet Rsrch and found out he is mostly harmless. As in, I probably don't have to worry unless I am an actual insect or I piss him off. He is apparently a Marbled Orb Weaver. ETA: When I was in the midst of freaking out I emailed the state cooperative extension for help IDing the spider, and they finally got back to me to let me know that he is a "Black and Yellow Argiope spider" and that "some people may have a reaction when bitten" (read: don't sue us). Also, apparently they are good hunters. Basically, he's a HUGE garden spider.


Image of a spider the size of a quarter that is red and green with black and white striped legs on a web hanging from my house's gutters.


Another image of the same spider, here there is a clearer view of the way the spider appears to mimic a nice juicy flower while hanging in its web, waiting for prey to be caught.


Okay, enough of those scary but kind of awesome 8-legged creatures, here is a chaser photo I took this morning of some of the neighborhood trees with the early morning light hitting them:

Dead (or is it only mostly dead?) cedar tree illuminated by morning light in foreground, in background some slightly blurry deciduous trees whose leaves are just beginning to have a few red and brown autumn leaves

Comments

[spiralsheep]

Love the spider photos, especially the first one. :-)

[untonuggan]

Thank you!

[pipisafoat]

ooh very colorful spider! I like him (and I like that he is only a picture to me haha)

[untonuggan]

Ha ha, yes, you get a nice digital distance! but yes, he's very cool once one gets over the initial "aaaaah run away run away run away". ^_^ thanks!

[foxfirefey]

Ooooh that is such an amazing spider, I love it.

There's only about three spiders you would want to worry about in your area:

* Black widow--easy to recognize, in messy webs
* Brown recluse or hobo spider -- people argue about whether or not these actually do bad things and if so which one, but better safe than sorry. A bit more tricky to avoid because they like hiding in things indoors.

All the other spiders should be okay!

[untonuggan]

Thank you for the info! I seemed to remember that yesterday in the depths of my brain as it was squealing in panic that surely this must be a dangerous spider, until my partner calmly pointed out that if you looked at the web the spider looked like a flower hanging there and that meant it was probably interested in nectar eating insects and not me.

I think my brain was like, "Lime green! Nothing with that much lime green can be good! Especially with the red and the black and white stripes! It's a dangerous color combo!"

But yes. Will remember better. For next time, when I see yet another spider around the house.

[foxfirefey]

Ha, yeah, nature often does proclaim poison with those colors! But, the US is pretty nambly pambly about spiders overall, so it's easier to remember the ones to avoid than know which are safe. If you were in AUSTRALIA though...

[untonuggan]

Hee, I don't know much about Australian spiders! I am kind of intrigued and also vaguely scared at what I might find out.

[holyschist]

Welllll, brown recluses definitely do have potentially necrotic venom (like the neurotoxic effects of black widow venom, this is a complication in a minority of cases); that's established. Hobo spiders it's less certain, although it's quite probable. The thing is, there are a TON of other things that can cause necrotic wounds, most of which are much more likely than brown recluses, especially in the large areas of the US with no brown recluses. And yet they get blamed for all the bites.

Anyway, yeah, in North America we really don't have to worry medically about spiders (although of course that doesn't stop them from being scary for some people). Don't stick your hand under rocks or into corners you can't see, shake out your boots in the morning when camping in widow or scorpion territory, and don't go poking around wildly in black widow webs, and you're pretty much good.

I don't think there are any orb weavers with venom that does much to humans, though. And every other spider in the US, even the giant tarantulas down in Texas, doesn't have a severe bite, unless you happen to be allergic.

[untonuggan]

Good to know!

[rainbow]

Congrats on the new place, and oooHOOOO, lovely pics! ♥

[untonuggan]

Thanks! And thanks! <3

[theora]

Cool spider! And dead/semi-dead trees are great for wildlife, so keep an eye out for woodpeckers and the like.

[untonuggan]

Thank you for the info! They do seem to like that tree, probably all the bugs? I've already seen some very windblown squirrels sheltering from the thunderstorm and a *lot* of nuthatches.

[white_rabbit]

I am pretty terrified of spiders if they're in my space, but pictures of them are okay! That little guy is awesome looking! :)

[untonuggan]

Yeah, I think I was okay with spiders until they got HUGE all of a sudden...but putting them behind the lens of a camera makes them more manageable. Suddenly it is an Art Undertaking, and so we are buddies in Art Making.

^_^

[holyschist]

The camera making scary things less scary is apparently a documented effect! Which reminds me, I should post some black widow pictures.

I LOVE your marbled orb weaver--I would be so excited, I'd be shoving my camera in the poor little guy's face! He looks like he belongs in the tropics.

[untonuggan]

Doesn't he look like he belongs there? Although I should remember to update this, because when I was in the midst of my FREAK OUT FREAK OUT I emailed the photos to the cooperative extension person, who finally got back to me. And apparently it's a "Black and Yellow Argiope spider"...so basically a Garden Spider. Still FREAKING COOL, in more than one sense of the word.

[holyschist]

I think you were right the first time and the extension person is wrong--it doesn't look anything like an Argiope, and it does look exactly like one of the color variants of Araneus marmoreus, although female (for example; compare with male). Male orbweavers are less likely to make webs, or even to be seen. A. marmoreus is a pretty variable species.

Compare:

Argiope aurantia
Araneus marmoreus

If you want to be sure, you could post to BugGuide, but I'm 95% sure think your extension folks called this one wrong.

[untonuggan]

...I think you are right. Go partner on IDing this one! Boo extension person.

[holyschist]

Extension people are great! But possibly not spider experts, in this case.

[untonuggan]

Indeed, they are great! Do not want to diss extension people! But perhaps, in this case, a bit busy or something.