Aaahhhhh!!! Spider!!!

[Kvixen23]

I found this outside my kitchen window this morning!! It is very beautiful and very scary at the same time. I made my husband and my neighbor come look at it with me. Both were none too excited when I insisted that they come look at 'something' right away (first thing in the morning ). However, when they saw what it was their attitudes changed from annoyed to intrigued!!

We took pictures and immediately set about researching her (we also named her Agatha). Here are the pictures......the first one is blurry (sorry).

Oh yeah, its an Argiope Garden Spider. Not poisonous to humans

Nature can do some pretty wonderful things!!!!!!

[bmccasland]

I've seen those on my morning training rides! Their webs are especially pretty with the morning dew on them. Hard to keep up with the paceline when you're looking into the woods for spider webs.

Since I haven't trained much this year at all, and know I won't be able to do the MS tour, I think I'm going to just ride the rails to trails path that we start on (the training ride does 4 miles, then gets off and heads to the roads). And take my camera. But I won't be giving Pardes any competition.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

That's a real beauty!


Here are a couple of other TE threads about spiders and bugs, etc:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ight=tarantula
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ight=tarantula

[RoadRaven]

Wow... thats a stunning spider...

We had a beautiful one living in our family room for nearly 6 months, she died about two weeks ago - she was huge, but not so colouful as this one.

Does anyone know what type of spider KVixen's one is?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Does anyone know what type of spider KVixen's one is?

Black and yellow Garden spider:
http://www.pbase.com/rcm1840/image/48116303

[snapdragen]

Aren't they gorgeous! I had one in my garden last year, I think it was. It had built a very impressive web!

[Mr. Bloom]

I had this same kind of spider land on my leg while riding on labor day. It was huge and I was semi-freaked because I didn't know what kind of spider it was, and I was climbing and couldn't take my hand off the handle bars for about 30 seconds...to finally brush it off.

While I clearly know in hind sight that it wasn't poisonous (since I'm still alive) it was scary to see it come out of a tree, land on my leg, and see its size

[sundial]

Oh my gosh--I would have gone cuckoo if that landed on me! It's a wonder you didn't wreck trying to get it off you. I remember one nightmare I had that woke up my husband. It was a tarantula size spider that had swung down on a web and landed on my face.

[Tri Girl]

Beautiful? Yes. Creepy? Certainly.
Nature is amazing, and that is one beautiful, creepy spider. What a neat find!

[wackyjacky1]

Totally cool spider...but I would not want one to land on me!!!

A couple of years ago, right around Halloween, one of those built a web right outside my back door. It was so beautiful! But after a week or so, it just disappeared, web and all...

[SlowButSteady]

Growing up we called these "writing spiders" because the design in the webs resemble handwriting.

The old wives tale is that if the spider writes your name in her web, you're going to die.

They're beautiful animals.

[RoadRaven]

Black and yellow Garden spider:

What a boringly disappointing name... you'd think it would have some stunning name like "Garden Incandescence"...

[nancielle]

When I was growing up there was a field by our house that was loaded with these spiders, particularly around the milkweed plants (lots o' bugs attracted to those). We found them fascinating at how quickly they'd spin a cocoon around any insect unfortunate enough to land in their web...except for ants. They were equally quick in cutting them loose.

[andtckrtoo]

I almost had one of these in my face while horse back riding a while ago. I was out on a trail alone, and was watching something on the side of the trail. I turned just in time to pull my horse out of the spider's path. My heart was racing. I have a severe case of arachnophobia. Although, I am whimsical enough to wonder if the spider went back to the other spiders to tell tales about the one that got away....

Nice photos, though, thanks for sharing.

[Kvixen23]

We named her Agatha and really wanted to watch her.....however, when I got up this morning, she was gone

We did get to watch her consume one unlucky insect though