What spider is that?

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I call them garden spiders. They are not poisonous. However they are large spiders and creepy!

Large they are, the body of that spider on the picture is about 2½cm (1") long!
But i like her to be there, she is eating all those pesky insects that would otherwise somehow get into our screened patio.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I believe it's a non-venomous orb weaver spider. All spiders can bite humans, but it shouldn't bother you if you don't bother it.

I would never bother a spider! - I'm just afraid of accidentally pushing my face into her net, upsetting her and being cocooned and eaten!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Ok it freaks me out too!

I. Could. Not. Have. This. Spider. Crawling. Over. Me! - I guess i would go supersonic if someone would drop such a spider on my hand…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Ok I swear I thought that was just a prank made out of a Halloween deco

No spider pranks in this house! Not for Friday 13th's, not even for Halloween!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

That is a lovely example of an Argiope spider. Possibly a Black and Yellow Argiope even though the yellow bands are slightly different from the ones I see here. There are several species found throughout US and Canada. This family of spiders is easy to identify by the zig-zag shape they weave into the web. They are not poisonous. The one in your picture is a fat female and will likely spin a egg sac soon. This is the best time of year to see them.

Here is a picture of another species of Argiope that I found in Hawaii this winter.

View attachment 2346600

Love to watch them, but always have goose-bumps…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I’d just call it a “garden spider” too. Generally they want bugs to land there for dinner. Yes, quite big, but not typically aggressive to us. If it was near to the human pathways, I would be inclined to take a stick and remove web and spider and transport to a more appropriate area away from where I would walk, but I wouldn’t kill it.

I never would kill a spider! - They are helping us to keep the mosquitos and stink-bug population at bey. She has built her net in a safe place, now that i know she is there. And she will eat well as she sits right under one of our d2d lamps.

 

[TooCheep]

What spider is it? That's Fred! I'd recognize him anywhere...

 

[TwoCrows]

Now THIS is a spider...

 

[DaisyG2317]

Now THIS is a spider...
View attachment 2346644

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Now THIS is a spider...
View attachment 2346644

I hope we don't have anything remotely like that here in WV!!!
What kind of trantula is this?