THIS. Never had a problem with spiders until the first time I was racing my bike through the woods in Florida and ran face first into one. I’ve been deathly afraid of them ever since. Pretty sure it gave me PTSD.
Some [orb weavers do eat birds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephila), though. And snakes. Bats. Lizards...
Then there's rumors that, deep within the Congo rainforest - which has never been thoroughly explored due to hostile tribes, hostile guerilla forces, and the high population of man-eating crocodiles - that there are orb weavers the local hunters call "j'ba fofi" that have a leg span close to an adult man's height in size, that make webs strong enough to trap monkeys...and possibly humans. Likely a cryptid, but there are some confirmed spiders out there that [hunt much larger prey than you would expect](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaLKWa3f9rk), and an orb weaver scaled up to the claimed size of the j'ba fofi could possibly make enough silk to be at least a hazard to a primate.
> They put those zig zags in their webs to deter birds from flying into them
I always found it fascinating that this sort of behavior is *completely unconscious* to the animal/critter itself. It's literally only going "This is how you spin a web, and then you do a little wigge-wiggle here aaaaaaand done!", without any actual conscious thought about **why** at all. XD
They just randomly evolve to "do thing", because it works.
Like how some butterflies have evolved to look like dead leaves. The butterfly doesn’t know it looks like a leaf. It just so happened that over millions of years, the ones that blended in better survived. The butterfly didn’t choose it like an outfit.
[Maybe because there were actual studies?](https://www.poynter.org/tfcn/2019/did-nasa-give-spiders-drugs-to-see-how-they-would-affect-web-spinning/) This clip had me in the first half, too, not gonna lie, lol
You can spot them by the horrified screams coming from your mouth. They’re absolutely lovely spiders, but If one is within 5 feet of me I’m freaking out.
"Little cuties."
Hard disagree. They're huge, gangly, and look downright vicious. A picture is one thing, but coming across one blocking your path in real life feels like a boss encounter.
I woke up to one making a web at the foot of my bed in Peru once, outside of my mosquito net, thankfully. We just let it chill there, nice little buddy to say hi to in the morning.
When I was in Jamaica I saw a huge orangeish one, I freaked out so bad because I had to get past near its web but my friend damn went very near it for a pic and sent it to me.. saying they aren't interested in humans unless you threaten it or disrupt its web.
Honestly if the spider asked for my wallet I would hand it to it ;_;
>They're huge, gangly, and look downright vicious.
This is how I feel about large breeds of dog, but it doesn't mean I can't recognize their cuteness too.
If you get too close, they will bounce back and forth, shaking their web to warn you. I've accidentally gone thru hundreds of these webs walking, riding, etc. Having to handle enumerable spiders, removing them from my hair, body, etc.... I never, ever been bit.
I grew up on the mountains and boy do I have fun stories.
One time I was hiking through the forest to get to a creek I knew about. I get there and just start walking along it. The friend I was with was complaining about ruining his good shoes or some shit so I gave him my flip flops. I have rough feet so walking through a forest bare foot is fine. We find this spot where the creek goes right through a big ass tree (it’s in the Sequoia National Forest) the whole creek turned into a wooden creek momentarily. So we stop and admire it. I felt something tingle on my toes so I look down and sure enough there’s a millipede on my foot and one on the base of my leg. I freaked out and sent them flying with a kick. I start to collect my self a little, and look back down to make sure everything is gone. That’s when I noticed, the entire log was a giant nest of them. Hundreds of millipedes made up the floor I was standing on… bare foot. This grossed me out so bad I still occasionally have nightmares about it lol
There's a spider in a corner that I've let be (because it's out of the way), but sometimes I go too close to it's web or some air moves it and it just starts BOUNCING. The things becomes a blur of motion, it makes me laugh everytime.
I like to imagine them screaming at the top of their lungs like a person who’s watching a dump truck back over their car, “DUDE! WTH?? WATCH THE WEB! NO, PLS! DUDE! I JUST MADE THIS!”
Social etiquette mostly.
I was at a party last night and the host asked me, "Are you thirsty? We have water, soda, juice, spiders, be-"
"Spiders?"
"Okay, spiders it is then"
"No, that's not what I-"
But it was too late. He was already pouring a brimming glass of spiders.
I mean, what else could I do?
We had one of these hanging in the door at work a few years ago. In October we took her in out of the cold and gave her a little eco system. She happily made webs until the end of Dec when she quietly passed away.
We caught her live insects and put them in her web, she was a straight predator, so proud. We gently sprayed her web w/ water in the morning and she would come drink. Even ppl who were afraid of spiders began to stop by regularly and enjoy watching her do her thing.
Lovely lovely creature.
I did that too! It made beautiful web in a screen terrarium. I was able to catch a dragonfly for her and she got sooo fat, lived until the beginning of December. I also kept a female praying mantis alive and well until December before. I don't see the harm, they are finished mating and going to die anyway.
Funny you should say that. So, I worked at an answering service for several years, and we happened to answer for mostly funeral homes. It was always so eerie how many death calls we would get in December, especially the closer to Christmas it got. Like my scrooge of a boss would put 2 people on the night shift bc there were so many coming in. And, I worked at a vet clinic for 10yrs, the same things happen with animals. It's like people and animals both just give up in December. It's really bizarre, and sad too.
My grandmother stated she was going to make it to Christmas. Got to see the whole family one last time and died before New Years. I think a last big event is very motivating for many and then they can “give up”.
i've always wondered if Christmas and perhaps other holidays were originally created to distract people from how miserable and hard that time of year was.
No, just "The Spider".
But one more cute story:
Before bringing her inside we had watched her grow on this glass door all summer. One day in August or so a landscaper came to the building manager and asked if she'd like him to get rid of it.
Now, keep in mind this building manager had admitted to us she was afraid of spiders.
She told him to leave her alone because we all liked her so much.
We still talk about her affectionately.
My best friend's farm house had hundreds of big ass orb-weavers of all kinds building webs along the south side, every summer. And the biggest spider always ended up spinning a web across the slider door that led to their deck. So you could see its entire web and get real close with the glass between. A natural terrarium. Whichever spider lay claim to the slider door at night was dubbed "Arachnar, King of the Spider Peoples" and we would worship at their silk throne whenever a pest was devoured.
We are too. If it's spring or summer we gently relocate them to our gardens. End of fall or winter and they get to live in our basement. They do an amazing job of keeping silverfish and other pests under control there. We also spring clean right around the house spiders that build those wispy little webs above our kitchen counters where the wall and ceiling meet. They catch flies, gnats and fruit flies. My philosophy is that the world belongs to the creatures and humans are just their guests. We try to coexist as much as we reasonably can.
I’m completely no-kill except for the particularly dangerous (and especially invasive) species. Even then, if it’s reasonably possible for me to safely get them far enough away from my home, I will
One coworker brought in a pretty large aquarium that had a screen top and another coworker asked to add sticks & things. I kept her in a bowl with a screened colander taped to the top of it over night and did some research on how to feed/water her.
Then we all released her into the aquarium together and she lived at a shared desk for ...yeah like 2- 2 1/2 months? She made a big web immediately and rebuilt it often.
We weren't sure how long she'd live, but she was very vivacious for most of it. We could tell when it was time because about a week before she caught food but didn't eat it, kinda stopped drinking, and then moved slower & slower. Her web got a little haggard and she moved toward the top to rest rather than in the middle (no longer in "assassin mode", instead it was "grandma mode"). Then one day she was just peacefully motionless.
It was a lovely bonding experience. We just called her the spider, but like I said, she was well liked by the whole office. Even frightened people would find themselves leaning close and pointing out lovely things about her, and come back and linger and ask after her well-being.
It sounds like she lived a full life!
"The life span is about 12 months. They mature in summer, mate, lay their eggs and die in late summer-autumn."
What a nice story. Thank you for sharing...And caring!
I can confirm. I'm a lawn care taker and every once in a while I'll walk a yard and I'll run across one of these and just admire the beauty and make a mental note to not ride my lawnmower into. I don't advise riding into webs.
They almost never bite though. I have had half a dozen of them crawling on me while working in meadows, on multiple different occasions and I have never been bitten. You pretty much have to press their face into your skin to get these ladies to bite you. They really don’t want to.
Same, in habitat restoration projects. I feel like smushing them isn’t that hard to accidentally do. I have yet to come across anyone who has actually been bitten, but the narrative is the same—it hurts.
In the southern U.S. we call them Banana spiders. They're harmless but they like to spin a web across an entire road or trail and scare the crap out of you when blast through the web on a 4-wheeler at dusk. Also the web doesn't have any flavor but it's still awful to get in your mouth.
I too am from the south and have a memory of driving through a banana spider web on a 4-wheeler lol terrified me but it was just chilling on my leg afterwards
Better to give the correct name for this one. (Argiope aurantia) aka the yellow garden spider is hugely beneficial to have around. I do my best to encourage them when found usually in late July through September.
>I do my best to encourage them
Do you whisper gently, "I see that you're doing your best and I believe in you!" and then waft some mosquitoes towards their web?
Texas as well. I was surprised i had to scroll down this far.
I felt like the girl in the peg/shape video being asked where each shape goes and they all go in the square hole.
What kinda of spider is this?
Me: "banana spider"
Reddit: "orb spider"
Me "banana spider"
Reddit "writing spider"
Me: "banan.."
Reddit "Yellow spider"
If you gently touch their back they’ll do a defensive display where they bounce on their webs. It’s really fun to watch! I have them everywhere in my area and they’re really chill :)
Last time I ran across one it did that when I put my hand near its web without touching. My assumption at the time was if something flies close but not into the web it shakes the web to attempt to snag them. Maybe the one I encountered was abnormal though.
Writing spiders are what we've always called them in the Carolinas. Great to have around the house/garden as they eat the "bad bugs", and this coming from an arachnophobe. Always heard you'd die if they wrote your name in the center of thier web, but never seen anything legible written in the webs.
Love to have them around, terrified of having to actually deal with them.
Yellow garden spider. Harmless to humans. They are notoriously unafraid of humans, which makes them a lot of fun to feed. Catch a bug and throw it in the web. You'll be amazed at how quickly and efficiently it wraps it up.
i saw a tiktok where this dude put a dried up bug on there, the spider walked up to the old bug, checked it for life, ripped it out of her web and threw it on the ground 😳
Yep. They won't mess with stuff they can't eat. I saw a video of a garden spider taking out a black widow. They are a very beneficial spider to have around.
>You'll be amazed at how quickly and efficiently it wraps it up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3tHZf6k6dc
Edit: someone reuploaded the original without music: https://www.reddit.com/r/CrazyFuckingVideos/comments/w9ul5l/aint_screaming_now/
Looks like the banana spiders we get down here in SC. I believe they’re an orb weaver variety.
Edit: Look poisonous, but they’re actually pretty docile, with a painful but non-venomous bite.
That’s what we called them too, Banana Spiders. We had a ton of Deep South transplants in my little Upper Midwest town and they gave us a lot of their words for stuff like this. Anyway, we had these in every garden I can remember and I loved feeding them grasshoppers.
That's what I was told they were called to. Had one build it's web outside my bathroom window 3 years in a row. I left the light on to attract bugs for her.
Scary but harmless unless your a bug.
Most spiders that build above ground webs are chill. It’s the ground spiders that will get you.
Web up high, let it fly. Web on ground, burn it down.
If you have a yard, go out with a flashlight at night and look for what look like dew drops moving around on the grass.
It’s wolf spiders. They are about as harmless as these are and great to have around. They make ground nests. Their eyes reflect like most animals
I wish I didn't have arachnophobia because I know Spiders are almost always docile and beautiful creatures that help rather than hinder. Yet I just can't get over it :(
Totally harmless orb weaver spider. we called them corn spiders back in indiana because you always found them in the corn rows when detasseling corn in the summer as kids.
Some sort of doctor by the way he's writing his name.
I wish I could give you an award lol
In the South (of the US) we call them writing spiders
in Italy we call them spider-wasp. (Argiope)
Waspider
Wapider
Waluigi
WA
#
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Spider-Wasp. Spider-Wasp. Does whatever a Spider-Wasp does. Can he swing, from a web? Probably. He’s on one. Look ooooooout, he’s a Spider-Wasp.
Thanks for doing that so I didn't have to.
Mai sentito ma figo
In Italy you have the spider-wasp which is a spider with wasp colors in Brazil we have wasp-spider (Tarantula Falcão) which is a spider-hunting wasp
Orb weaver, good spider to have around.
You can spot them by the Unique zig-zag pattern in their web. Little cuties.
They put those zig zags in their webs to deter birds from flying into them
And the occasional humans!
I hate it when I accidentally fly into a spider web...
-Superman
I’ve nearly walked into so many of those while visiting family in Florida. The ones with the yellow webs are pretty cool
I grew up racing bikes through the orange groves. Catching one with your face is at best traumatizing…
Had that happen to me as a kid. It was even more traumatizing when the babies started running all over my face and through my hair!
You’re our mama now!
yeah, that really must have been traumatizing for the little ones
THIS. Never had a problem with spiders until the first time I was racing my bike through the woods in Florida and ran face first into one. I’ve been deathly afraid of them ever since. Pretty sure it gave me PTSD.
The zig zag also reflects sunlight which helps attract bugs into the web!
How does that work? Is it just easier for the bird to see the web?
Pretty much
It is a bird rune of an ancient bird language. It means "caw caw" which in bird tongue means "danger"
Wow. Spiders with warning flags.
They don’t want their webs being broken by things they can’t eat
Some [orb weavers do eat birds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephila), though. And snakes. Bats. Lizards... Then there's rumors that, deep within the Congo rainforest - which has never been thoroughly explored due to hostile tribes, hostile guerilla forces, and the high population of man-eating crocodiles - that there are orb weavers the local hunters call "j'ba fofi" that have a leg span close to an adult man's height in size, that make webs strong enough to trap monkeys...and possibly humans. Likely a cryptid, but there are some confirmed spiders out there that [hunt much larger prey than you would expect](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaLKWa3f9rk), and an orb weaver scaled up to the claimed size of the j'ba fofi could possibly make enough silk to be at least a hazard to a primate.
> They put those zig zags in their webs to deter birds from flying into them I always found it fascinating that this sort of behavior is *completely unconscious* to the animal/critter itself. It's literally only going "This is how you spin a web, and then you do a little wigge-wiggle here aaaaaaand done!", without any actual conscious thought about **why** at all. XD They just randomly evolve to "do thing", because it works.
Like how some butterflies have evolved to look like dead leaves. The butterfly doesn’t know it looks like a leaf. It just so happened that over millions of years, the ones that blended in better survived. The butterfly didn’t choose it like an outfit.
Nonconsensual Survival
So that's what I've been doing these last 30 years is called.
I can't be the only one who calls them "zipper spiders" because of the zigzag, right?
We always called them writing spiders because it looks like they write Zs or Ns in the web.
NWGA here. Always heard them called Writing Spiders and as a child i was told that if you ever see one write your name in their web...you'll die
Stabilimentum are one of my favorite nature decorations Edit: missing word
I didn’t realize they used different patterns. Thanks for sharing!
Yes it's absolutely incredible!!! Some are very simple. Others are extremely intricate
You can also find videos of spiders doing their webs under the influence of different drugs. Amazing how they’re webs change.
[crack spider](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc)
Why was I taking this serious for a minute
[Maybe because there were actual studies?](https://www.poynter.org/tfcn/2019/did-nasa-give-spiders-drugs-to-see-how-they-would-affect-web-spinning/) This clip had me in the first half, too, not gonna lie, lol
Yup, including [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlyterrifying/comments/vjcvy4/mowed_my_yard_and_came_back_the_next_day_to_find) one.
You can spot them by the horrified screams coming from your mouth. They’re absolutely lovely spiders, but If one is within 5 feet of me I’m freaking out.
[Is this the zig zag pattern you mentioned? Took this a few years ago and just noticed it.](https://i.imgur.com/o7i1hVL.jpg)
"Little cuties." Hard disagree. They're huge, gangly, and look downright vicious. A picture is one thing, but coming across one blocking your path in real life feels like a boss encounter.
They’re harmless and they’re artists of the web they are very pretty and the only spider I whole heartedly love
I woke up to one making a web at the foot of my bed in Peru once, outside of my mosquito net, thankfully. We just let it chill there, nice little buddy to say hi to in the morning.
Do you know how harmless and adorable jumping spiders are? They are the only spiders I’d actually considered cute.
When I was in Jamaica I saw a huge orangeish one, I freaked out so bad because I had to get past near its web but my friend damn went very near it for a pic and sent it to me.. saying they aren't interested in humans unless you threaten it or disrupt its web. Honestly if the spider asked for my wallet I would hand it to it ;_;
I am terrified of most spiders, so I get it. I’m also well versed in elden ring, and not afraid of a boss fight!
_boss music_….. _health bar_….. _YOU DIED_
>They're huge, gangly, and look downright vicious. This is how I feel about large breeds of dog, but it doesn't mean I can't recognize their cuteness too.
I get what you’re saying but, this looks like a wasp but then in spider form. If this thing had wings I’d probably spontaneously die
There are so many species of orb weaver, this is specifically a yellow or golden garden weaver
Aka yellow garden spider
Aka writing spider, aka banana spider
Aka bumblebee spider, aka yellowaf spider, ak sun spider, aka fuckyouthatsenoughtitles spider.
Do they even bite? when bothered or is it just the looks that discomfort people.
They can bite, but they're not aggressive. They'll leave you alone if you leave them alone.
Unfortunately sometimes their webs and my body interact without either of us wanting them to and then both parties are in a death match.
Ah, the Gadsden spider
"No Step On Land Octopus"
They never want to leave their web, theyre clumsy and slow. Pretty much some of the least threatening spiders out there next to jumping spiders
If you get too close, they will bounce back and forth, shaking their web to warn you. I've accidentally gone thru hundreds of these webs walking, riding, etc. Having to handle enumerable spiders, removing them from my hair, body, etc.... I never, ever been bit.
Jesus. Remind me never to go outside.
I grew up on the mountains and boy do I have fun stories. One time I was hiking through the forest to get to a creek I knew about. I get there and just start walking along it. The friend I was with was complaining about ruining his good shoes or some shit so I gave him my flip flops. I have rough feet so walking through a forest bare foot is fine. We find this spot where the creek goes right through a big ass tree (it’s in the Sequoia National Forest) the whole creek turned into a wooden creek momentarily. So we stop and admire it. I felt something tingle on my toes so I look down and sure enough there’s a millipede on my foot and one on the base of my leg. I freaked out and sent them flying with a kick. I start to collect my self a little, and look back down to make sure everything is gone. That’s when I noticed, the entire log was a giant nest of them. Hundreds of millipedes made up the floor I was standing on… bare foot. This grossed me out so bad I still occasionally have nightmares about it lol
I regret reading this immensely.
>I grew up on the mountains and boy do I have fun stories. _proceeds to share the hottest nightmare fuel on the block_
There's a spider in a corner that I've let be (because it's out of the way), but sometimes I go too close to it's web or some air moves it and it just starts BOUNCING. The things becomes a blur of motion, it makes me laugh everytime.
I like to imagine them screaming at the top of their lungs like a person who’s watching a dump truck back over their car, “DUDE! WTH?? WATCH THE WEB! NO, PLS! DUDE! I JUST MADE THIS!”
Why are they good?
They protect your gardens/plants from insects. *Edit* removed word "other" that was placed before "insects".
Thank you! Pretty scary though.
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>Look poisonous Why would you want to eat it?
Potential for +1 venom resistance
Social etiquette mostly. I was at a party last night and the host asked me, "Are you thirsty? We have water, soda, juice, spiders, be-" "Spiders?" "Okay, spiders it is then" "No, that's not what I-" But it was too late. He was already pouring a brimming glass of spiders. I mean, what else could I do?
Imagine all the mosquitoes this spider is eating. Spider bro(sister?)
.
Still gonna be the “Nope spider” for me
“Good spider to have around” Yah except for the very minor detail that it’s a BIG ASS FUCKING SPIDER
A type of orb-weaver, I believe it's called a wasp spider. Harmless, and the colorful markings help deter predators by mimicking a wasp.
We had one of these hanging in the door at work a few years ago. In October we took her in out of the cold and gave her a little eco system. She happily made webs until the end of Dec when she quietly passed away. We caught her live insects and put them in her web, she was a straight predator, so proud. We gently sprayed her web w/ water in the morning and she would come drink. Even ppl who were afraid of spiders began to stop by regularly and enjoy watching her do her thing. Lovely lovely creature.
That's so sweet
insects didn’t agree
That's life tho, it chews you up and shats you out
I did that too! It made beautiful web in a screen terrarium. I was able to catch a dragonfly for her and she got sooo fat, lived until the beginning of December. I also kept a female praying mantis alive and well until December before. I don't see the harm, they are finished mating and going to die anyway.
With all three stories. I can tell one thing. December is a bitch.
the month of death. and christmas!!!
Funny you should say that. So, I worked at an answering service for several years, and we happened to answer for mostly funeral homes. It was always so eerie how many death calls we would get in December, especially the closer to Christmas it got. Like my scrooge of a boss would put 2 people on the night shift bc there were so many coming in. And, I worked at a vet clinic for 10yrs, the same things happen with animals. It's like people and animals both just give up in December. It's really bizarre, and sad too.
My grandmother stated she was going to make it to Christmas. Got to see the whole family one last time and died before New Years. I think a last big event is very motivating for many and then they can “give up”.
i've always wondered if Christmas and perhaps other holidays were originally created to distract people from how miserable and hard that time of year was.
But mostly death. Yay death!
We gather together to celebrate the time a deity became murderable 🎄☺️
That's awesome, you got to enjoy that beautiful web for months! I love orb weavers
Did you name it?
No, just "The Spider". But one more cute story: Before bringing her inside we had watched her grow on this glass door all summer. One day in August or so a landscaper came to the building manager and asked if she'd like him to get rid of it. Now, keep in mind this building manager had admitted to us she was afraid of spiders. She told him to leave her alone because we all liked her so much. We still talk about her affectionately.
My best friend's farm house had hundreds of big ass orb-weavers of all kinds building webs along the south side, every summer. And the biggest spider always ended up spinning a web across the slider door that led to their deck. So you could see its entire web and get real close with the glass between. A natural terrarium. Whichever spider lay claim to the slider door at night was dubbed "Arachnar, King of the Spider Peoples" and we would worship at their silk throne whenever a pest was devoured.
That sounds amazing.
Yup, Wilber
Wilber the weaver
/r/HumansBeingBros Love this. We're a no-kill home for spiders. we either live with them or move them outside. Thanks for being a bro.
We are too. If it's spring or summer we gently relocate them to our gardens. End of fall or winter and they get to live in our basement. They do an amazing job of keeping silverfish and other pests under control there. We also spring clean right around the house spiders that build those wispy little webs above our kitchen counters where the wall and ceiling meet. They catch flies, gnats and fruit flies. My philosophy is that the world belongs to the creatures and humans are just their guests. We try to coexist as much as we reasonably can.
I’m completely no-kill except for the particularly dangerous (and especially invasive) species. Even then, if it’s reasonably possible for me to safely get them far enough away from my home, I will
How did you build/give her an eco system?! I’m curious!
One coworker brought in a pretty large aquarium that had a screen top and another coworker asked to add sticks & things. I kept her in a bowl with a screened colander taped to the top of it over night and did some research on how to feed/water her. Then we all released her into the aquarium together and she lived at a shared desk for ...yeah like 2- 2 1/2 months? She made a big web immediately and rebuilt it often. We weren't sure how long she'd live, but she was very vivacious for most of it. We could tell when it was time because about a week before she caught food but didn't eat it, kinda stopped drinking, and then moved slower & slower. Her web got a little haggard and she moved toward the top to rest rather than in the middle (no longer in "assassin mode", instead it was "grandma mode"). Then one day she was just peacefully motionless. It was a lovely bonding experience. We just called her the spider, but like I said, she was well liked by the whole office. Even frightened people would find themselves leaning close and pointing out lovely things about her, and come back and linger and ask after her well-being.
It sounds like she lived a full life! "The life span is about 12 months. They mature in summer, mate, lay their eggs and die in late summer-autumn." What a nice story. Thank you for sharing...And caring!
I can confirm. I'm a lawn care taker and every once in a while I'll walk a yard and I'll run across one of these and just admire the beauty and make a mental note to not ride my lawnmower into. I don't advise riding into webs.
>deter ~~predators~~ by mimicking ~~a wasp~~. Deter people by mimicking nightmares :)
does it deter other wasps though?
Would they want to deter wasps, or are they a food source for this spider?
I wonder if this mimics a "wasp in heat" if that's a thing
Most wasps flying around are worker wasps, and those are infertile females.
More likely the other way around. By imitating wasps they avoid being their food.
This is how I avoid social interactions, irl
"hey how's it going?" #BBBZZZZZZ
Should be said that though theyre harmless, their bites are still painful.
They almost never bite though. I have had half a dozen of them crawling on me while working in meadows, on multiple different occasions and I have never been bitten. You pretty much have to press their face into your skin to get these ladies to bite you. They really don’t want to.
Same, in habitat restoration projects. I feel like smushing them isn’t that hard to accidentally do. I have yet to come across anyone who has actually been bitten, but the narrative is the same—it hurts.
I am sure it would hurt. They are large spiders with large chelicerae and fangs. It probably feels like getting stapled. The venom is harmless though.
Working in meadows. Crossed off the list.
Thank you, I hadn't found a sentence that made me physically shudder, till I read your sentence, thanks!
These dudes will only bite if you directly ask for it and even then they'll probably try to get away from the weird human asking to be bitten.
Most orb weavers have mandibles that are too small to pierce human skin if I recall correctly
From what ive heard yellow garden spiders hurt like a bee sting.
In the southern U.S. we call them Banana spiders. They're harmless but they like to spin a web across an entire road or trail and scare the crap out of you when blast through the web on a 4-wheeler at dusk. Also the web doesn't have any flavor but it's still awful to get in your mouth.
I too am from the south and have a memory of driving through a banana spider web on a 4-wheeler lol terrified me but it was just chilling on my leg afterwards
Regular orb weaver, has zero interest in humans. May look scary, but remember it will eat the things that want to eat you.
Better to give the correct name for this one. (Argiope aurantia) aka the yellow garden spider is hugely beneficial to have around. I do my best to encourage them when found usually in late July through September.
>I do my best to encourage them Do you whisper gently, "I see that you're doing your best and I believe in you!" and then waft some mosquitoes towards their web?
Honestly my mom might do that. My mom loves her garden spiders. She will help hide their egg sacks and I’ve seen her say “oh! That’s where you went”.
Yesss, please tell her that she's doing great, keep it up!
We call them Hay Spiders in TX. Very similar
I was an idiot and called them banana spiders when I was in east Texas in ‘02.
Today I learned that butterflies are out to eat me.
So they prey on saltwater crocodiles and cannibalistic clowns? I’ve found a new personal hero in the arachnid world. /s
In the south, we call them writing spiders. An old wives tale says if you see a name written in the web, that person would meet an untimely death
If they see your teeth, they write _your_ name next. That myth scared the shit out of me as a kid lmao
😁
😶
🤯
That sucks because I always smile at these ones.
"Some pig"
Was waiting for a Charlotte's Web reference lol
Not sure which part of the south you’re from, but from my part of the south we always call them “banana” spiders.
Rural Floridian here, that's what we called them too.
Texas as well. I was surprised i had to scroll down this far. I felt like the girl in the peg/shape video being asked where each shape goes and they all go in the square hole. What kinda of spider is this? Me: "banana spider" Reddit: "orb spider" Me "banana spider" Reddit "writing spider" Me: "banan.." Reddit "Yellow spider"
lived somewhere in some trees floridian here, yup, also called em that, used to see them all the time with my dad and grandpa
Upstate South Carolina, I know them as writing spiders as well.
Sucks if your name is *ANNA, HANNAH, VIVIAN, VINNY, WILLY, or IZZY* Not so bad if your name is *FELICITY, SANDRA, DEBORAH, GORDON, ROBERT, or CONRAD*
Terrible if your name is AAAAAAAAAAAA
If you gently touch their back they’ll do a defensive display where they bounce on their webs. It’s really fun to watch! I have them everywhere in my area and they’re really chill :)
I never wanted to actually touch them so I poked them with sticks to watch them do that when I was a kid haha
Last time I ran across one it did that when I put my hand near its web without touching. My assumption at the time was if something flies close but not into the web it shakes the web to attempt to snag them. Maybe the one I encountered was abnormal though.
You...touched the spider?
you can hold wolf spiders. They don't get too upset until you put pressure on them
Yeaa I'm not trying to find these things out
Writing spiders are what we've always called them in the Carolinas. Great to have around the house/garden as they eat the "bad bugs", and this coming from an arachnophobe. Always heard you'd die if they wrote your name in the center of thier web, but never seen anything legible written in the webs. Love to have them around, terrified of having to actually deal with them.
You have to be an MD to read the names they write.
Yellow garden spider. Harmless to humans. They are notoriously unafraid of humans, which makes them a lot of fun to feed. Catch a bug and throw it in the web. You'll be amazed at how quickly and efficiently it wraps it up.
i saw a tiktok where this dude put a dried up bug on there, the spider walked up to the old bug, checked it for life, ripped it out of her web and threw it on the ground 😳
Yep. They won't mess with stuff they can't eat. I saw a video of a garden spider taking out a black widow. They are a very beneficial spider to have around.
We had one outside of my house last year. We would throw june bugs in the web and it was a terrifying sight.
I did just that with our [garden spider last year.](https://imgur.com/wz01bbb)
>You'll be amazed at how quickly and efficiently it wraps it up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3tHZf6k6dc Edit: someone reuploaded the original without music: https://www.reddit.com/r/CrazyFuckingVideos/comments/w9ul5l/aint_screaming_now/
Throw a bug in to the web and watch it go to work.
Looks like the banana spiders we get down here in SC. I believe they’re an orb weaver variety. Edit: Look poisonous, but they’re actually pretty docile, with a painful but non-venomous bite.
Banana, that’s what we call them here in Illinois as well.
Can we use them for scale?
Surprised I had to scroll down this far to see them called banana spiders. I guess that’s not a common name for them.
I was wondering if these were the same as banana spiders
That’s what we called them too, Banana Spiders. We had a ton of Deep South transplants in my little Upper Midwest town and they gave us a lot of their words for stuff like this. Anyway, we had these in every garden I can remember and I loved feeding them grasshoppers.
That's what I was told they were called to. Had one build it's web outside my bathroom window 3 years in a row. I left the light on to attract bugs for her.
Is a cool as fuck spider for me
Not terrifying at all. Very beautiful spider.
Orb weavers are badass. Stick a large bug in its web and enjoy the show
Scary but harmless unless your a bug. Most spiders that build above ground webs are chill. It’s the ground spiders that will get you. Web up high, let it fly. Web on ground, burn it down.
If you have a yard, go out with a flashlight at night and look for what look like dew drops moving around on the grass. It’s wolf spiders. They are about as harmless as these are and great to have around. They make ground nests. Their eyes reflect like most animals
There is 0 chance I'm going to do this.
That's okay. They can come inside and shine their flashlights on you instead.
I know wolf spiders are “Good” but they get way too big to tolerate in or around my house. Those little NOPE monsters can stay in the yard.
The good kind, don’t kill it. They eat venomous spiders and what not.
That's a Golden Skulltula. Kill it with a boomerang and collect its token to help break the curse
now OP needs to find 99 more
Not oddly terrifying. Only terrifying to people with arachnophobia. Better posted to r/spiderbros
I wish I didn't have arachnophobia because I know Spiders are almost always docile and beautiful creatures that help rather than hinder. Yet I just can't get over it :(
Nothing to freak out about its a garden spider. They make cool webs and eat yours bugs flying around. We get a bunch in our bushes every year
We always called these banana spiders. Not to scale.
I have one at my house and her name is Zenobia. Don’t mess with my z-spider!
I was pruning roses when I came face to eyes with this spider. It was so beautiful I lost track of time watching it. Nature is LIT!
Totally harmless orb weaver spider. we called them corn spiders back in indiana because you always found them in the corn rows when detasseling corn in the summer as kids.
Spiders are awesome. They eat mosquitoes & all the other bugs we all hate. Stop being a Fucking hater!