Brrr. Errr. Eeeeh. Egh.
Eccckkk...rrrrrr...bbbbl.
Blrrrrr...phhhhh...mmmmb.
Heebee-geebees under control. Sorry.
Is this one of those argiope spiders? I had no idea they got this big. The world just became a much scarier place for me. I must find a dark--fumigated--corner in which to curl up and hide.
Thanks for the photo, Nicolle.
Photo courtesy: SauzAmya
Jul 25, 2007
Heebee-geebees
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22 comments:
yes my friend told me about these- his mother lives in Bali. i gave him a sketchbook before his last visit and he had several pages of these guys about life sized. yikes. they also have those giant 12 inch poisonous centipedes. double yikes.
It's a golden orb weaver!! My favorite kind, if not.....extremely large. I got loads of pictures from Costa Rica of em.
~K, sans heebie jeebies.
We have them here in Australia. Their webs are extremely strong but the orbs never come into the house.
Unbelievable! It looks like an old cigarette butt with nightmare legs.
Despite the cig butt comparison, this guy really is gorgeous. I'd love to watch him spinning his web...
Yup. I've seen them that big. They're actually a really timid spider that would never mess with you. Just don't walk into their web. That will tend to piss them off ;)
That is one gorgeos spider! I wish we had spiders that big up here. I'm just going to sit here and stare dreamily at that picture for a few min. *sigh*
I know nothing about spiders...but it looks like it could kill me...is it poisonous?
amandacheryl:
Nope! It's a relative of the American Orb weavers, and it might have a painful, itchy, uncomfy bite, it will not kill you! They are also extremely docile, and would rather run away from you. Their webs, however, are some of the strongest in the known world- I cut my face on one!
~K. (I luvs me some arachnids)
Ok, K, I'm a little confused. How could you cut your face on a spider web? I mean it's still a spider web, not steel mesh, right? And was there a spider on the web when it cut you? Way curious here...
This species web is stronger, pound for pound, than any material known to man.
I remember those argiope spiders from when I lived in Texas. Usually they built their webs way up high between a couple of trees, but sometimes you'd find one at ground level. I suppose you could get cut by some of the strands if you were moving fast, say on horseback or on an ATV. I experienced the horseback option once myself. Gah!
sorry for bein late, Pkeli!
Jade is right- pound for pound, this sticky web can be stringer than a steel wire!! I walked into it without seeing it, flipped out, turned my head...and the web itself acted like a cheese cutter! And yes, the spider was there, but he was 8 times as scared as me, and scrambled in the opposite direction.
~K. (For anyone who wants to chat spiders/anything with me, my AIM screen-name is Atroxian!)
Wow. Thanks for the story, K. Unbelievable. Wish I'd been there!!
I had to go info hunting after reading these posts and learned the differences between "capture" and "dragline" silk, the strength of each, and the experiments being done to recreate the silk artificially. I never knew. Now I want to go spider web hunting.
We have these all over my parents house in coastal Alabama, and here at my house in Jacksonville, FL. Every year we watch them start to spin, and get bigger... and bigger... and bigger. Great photo subjects, as they're (as mentioned above) very docile. I've heard that the bite can be painful, but I've never done the necessary "Walk up to it and poke it a LOT" to get her to bite. If I'm not mistaken, females get huge, males are teeny tiny.
Anyone know why they do the zigzag thing in the middle of their webs?
-Aahz
Aahz:
Orb weavers tend to make the zig-zig in the shape that each individual spider holds their legs- to make them appear much much bigger to a predator!
Pkeli:
If you like, boneroom.com has preserved orb weaver webs on sale. I don't have one, personally, but if you really want to study one, they are great little displays!
We have that spider's slightly smaller sisters here in Texas. Mom's garden used to be home to about a half-dozen of them--they liked to weave webs between the cornstalks and between the cornstalks and the fence.
I can readily believe that somebody might get cut by the silk; I've seen small birds trapped in the webs, with the spiders on the other side of the web, going, "Oookay. Now what?"
K--
Thanks for the boneroom site!! The webs are gorgeous and I know someone who'd love to have one on his wall just above his tarantula's terrarium. (The other insect products are also beautiful but it makes me sad that they were killed just to be looked at.) Thanks again!
pkeli-
No problem! I collect animal skulls (which are never harvested for that purpose), and the boneroom is one of the cheapest sites out there. Sadly, the insects are bred expressly for that, unless told otherwise. still- it IS the only place to find those webs. Hope he enjoys!
I have a case of the jibblies so bad that I've tucked my feet under me. GAH. Spiders that big have no business hanging so near someone's hand.
And now, I will turn off the internet and run away from this picture.
~Kit
Speaking of buying preserved spiderwebs, my family found a spiderweb farm in Vermont (well, it was a barn anyway) about 12 years ago. The guy sprayed the webs so they would show up, and mounted them on plaques. We gave one to my little brother's teacher, since she had just read them Charlotte's Web. It was really neat, but for the life of me I don't remember where it was or who owned it, or if it still exists today.
i was told it was a banana spider..but i not sure..but i think it is cool i have one i catch him in the barn n put him a cage lol he is sitting by my bed lol he is really cool to wacth wen he makes his web!!!
Orb weaving spiders are common in that form, although this mightent be one.
The biggest orb weaving spider is the Golden Orb Weaver, or 'Bird Catcher' spider of Australia. That fella can get to be arm length (give or take).
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