Aaahhhhh!!! Spider!!!

[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

[tulip]

I have three at the moment. One outside my back door. She's to the side, so I don't walk into her! The others have each spun a web outside each of my bedroom windows. I feel protected! I've named them Hannah, Anna, and Nana.

[RoadRaven]

Tulip... that is awesome
Its so good to read about others who don't want to kill every single spider "just because"
We have lots of webs in our home and share the house with many spiders - the only ones that are not welcome are the "white-tails" with the nasty bite.

For the Hopi, the spider is very special, as the Spider Woman has led them from one world to the next.
We have no such story here in my country, but I do share the special place of women and spiders in Hopi culture with my students

[tulip]

I did a little research, and Hannah, Anna, and Nana are European Garden Spiders, or Araneus diadematus. A bit more rotund and less leggy (as are some of us!) than the Black and Yellow Garden Spider. I've been in my new house only since August 25, so I'm happy to have a welcoming committee (and neighborhood watch).

[wildhawk]

Awesome!! Beautiful spider - thanks for sharing!! As an artist and naturalist, I LOVE seeing critters!! We get the huge golden silk spiders here in Florida and they build some massive webs in the woods. We also have wolf spiders and they are very large and hairy, but they love to feed on palmetto bugs which are nasty, so I live the wolfies. I had one living in my house for a few months and named him Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. My best friend has arachnophobia and refused to come over until Wolfgang was gone. Alas, my cat killed him in the hallway a few weeks ago so now my best friend will come visit again. The other day DH and I were riding our bikes at our local park when I yelled out “turn around!” A big, beautiful scarlet red dragonfly was lying on the bike path, deader than a doorknob. I collected her for a studio specimen (I like to draw and paint nature and have a variety of insect specimens - and I am absolutely anal about every wing and leg being correct!). That is why my DH keeps ziploc bags in our bike bags! I also remember running into big spider webs when I had horses - I always made sure that I wore a cowgirl hat with a wide brim just in case!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The other day DH and I were riding our bikes at our local park when I yelled out “turn around!” A big, beautiful scarlet red dragonfly was lying on the bike path, deader than a doorknob. I collected her for a studio specimen (I like to draw and paint nature and have a variety of insect specimens - and I am absolutely anal about every wing and leg being correct!). That is why my DH keeps ziploc bags in our bike bags!

Yes I like to collect perfect dead 'specimens' too. Did you see my mounted tarantula skin in one of the threads I linked to above? I have a gorgeous huge green luna moth in a plexiglass box.

[wildhawk]

Awesome! I had a luna moth several years ago, but another pet cat got it and happily destroyed it one day while I was at work. Currently I have a large polyphemous moth, and hope someday to replace my luna. And I have gotten a lot smarter about keeping them secured and safe - away from my cat! Lunas are definately a treasure! Tarantulas are so interesting - did you have one as a pet at one point? I am glad to know that we have a love of insects in common - most of the gals I know are grossed out by my collection. However, one sweet lady I work with lost her husband a couple of years ago found out that I am a naturalist/artist and she gave me his camera equipment, his microscope (vintage) and a rattlesnake tail that he had mounted in a Ryker display complete with fangs and a small vial of venom - he must have collected that in the 40s. Every now and then she will bring me another one of his specimens for my collection. And most of my biking/hiking friends now know that I “brake” for nature! Can you post a pic of your luna? I would love to see it.