September 10, 2006
The local paper had a nice write-up about the National Wildlife Federation's Field Guide website and it came in handy today when The Wife spotted this spider on a plant next to the front porch.
Posted by Orrin Judd at September 10, 2006 12:34 PMIt's important to know what kind of bug you are squishing.
The article says these spiders are all over North America. I never saw them up north, but here in Florida they're everywhere. You need to watch your step if you don't want to walk into one their intricate and beautiful webs.
These spiders may look big and formidable, but they have the good sense not to come into the house, so unless their webs are blocking the outside doors, we co-exist peacefully. Not so with another type of really big (4-5 inches) spiders who come into the house and scare the bejeezuz out of us, well really just me. They get a quick squirt from an eco-friendly bug spray and a burial at sea.
oj,
I do believe, once again, that you get it.
All best,
Ed
Posted by: Ed Bush at September 10, 2006 2:21 PMThose things are amazing. See 'em all over Atlanta around now.
You also start to see these fat orange-and-black web-spinners that aren't quite as big as the garden spider but spin much bigger webs. Not sure what they're called -- I think they're a variant of the "common orb weaver" -- I always called 'em "halloween spiders" b/c you see so many of them in late sept-oct.