23 December, 2009:
I have been trying to identify this spider. please help! I live In colden NY, it was on the side of our T111 sided House.
Thank you~ sorry this is so big i couldnt make it any smaller if it is too big please let me know |
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29 November, 2009:
Hi,
I’m hoping you can help me identify what kind of spider this is. I found it outside my house (Toronto, Canada) and have not been able to find any information online.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Reply: No it's not a brown widow, this is a garden orb weaver
and not dangerous.
23 November, 2009:
Hello, I live in Torrance Ca USA and have found many brown widows this year. This spider in the picture looks nothing like the other brown widows I've found but was in a tree right next to five large spiked brown widow style egg sacks. That stick its on is about 3/4 inches wide. Any idea what it is?
Thanks, James
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Click for an excellent closeup |
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Reply: thanks - glen
2 November, 2009:
Just wanted to double check, thanks for having such an awesome website! |
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Reply: This is a garden orb weaver,
probably a male araneus diadematus - glen
2 November, 2009:
I found this in the garage picked it up and it balled up and wouldn't come out of the fetal position until I pulled at one of it's legs..thanks Ken |
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Reply: This is a garden orb weaver,
araneus diadematus too - glen
24 October, 2009:
Hi there, I would appreciate if you can give me info
about the attached spider, and how venomous could it be. Thank you
Wissam from Lebanon |
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Reply: This is a garden orb weaver,
araneus diadematus - glen
24 October, 2009:
My Sister in law and her husband sent this photo to my son as he is fascinated but all things bugs, and wanted his help in I.D.ing it. could you maybe also help. |
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23 October, 2009:
Hello - this spider appeared on my awning outside of my front window. I live in the suburbs of Chicago. It's probably about the size of a quarter. The next day, another one appeared on my roof, about the same size but I can't get close enough to see any details. I would appreciate any help you can offer as I have young children and would like to know if the spider is poisonous. Thank you..
Bridget |
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14 October, 2009:
Thank you for attempting to identify this spider. The photo was taken on my patio in Snohomish, Washington.
Best regards,
Andy |
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14 October, 2009:
Wow 2 in one week!~ This one is brown with a clear yellow cross down the back. a huge sac as well. I sent 3 photos. |
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14 October, 2009:
We were wondering what kind of spider this is. He lives in the window at my daughters preschool in the Detroit area. Thanks!
Renae
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3 October, 2009:
hello,we have a few of these around and with a dog,i'am concerned not knowing what they are,please help.Sean
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12 September, 2009:
Dear Glen
I thought you might like a picture of this beauty. I found her in my day lily bed. I live in Northwestern Pennsylvania. She was very docile and let me flip around the leaves to get a nice photo of her. She is large; 2 cm body and maybe 3.5-4 cm total with her legs stretched.
Click for a larger view. |
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31 August, 2009:
I believe this is a garden orb weaver in the downward facing pose.
It's body is nearly 2" long, and you can see the typical orb weaver pattern in the center of the web.
Feel free to use this photo on your site if it suits your needs.
Thanks, Marlon
Click for a larger view. |
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31 August, 2009:
Hi Glen,
This morning Saturday August 29, 2009 I notice this spider outside within the area of a Japanese Maple Tree.
The shots that I got were with it still in the web. I have however never seen a spider of this type, could you please enlighten me to its type and if it something to actually worry about.
Sincerely Dearborn Michigan
~Shane
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28 August, 2009:
Hi Is this a wolf spider? It’s in my garage and
it’s web is huge … easily 2 - 3 feet across and from the
top of the garage to the floor. It doesn’t like loud
sounds. I’m in Schenectady NY. If someone wants to use
the pic let me know. This is probably the biggest spider
I have ever seen. Terry
Click for a larger view. |
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23 August, 2009:
hi glen. im a pretty avid photographer and one day i found this spider outside (around 2 in total including legs) and i snapped a photo of it. ive been trying for weeks to identify it and i came across your web site (which did help me identify 2 other spiders i had in question) i noticed that you seem to have a pretty good insight on spider types so i was wondering if you could help me out. im not quite sure exactly what it is, and unfortunatly i have only one photo, but it is a very detailed shot and i hope you can come up with something on this
-kym
ps im pretty sure knowing a location helps so i shot this outside of my home in southeastern wisconsin
Click for a larger view. |
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18 December, 2008:
Can you please tell me what kind of spider this is. It has been hanging around my back deck light for a few months now, I don’t mess with it because I don’t like it but it does seem to be getting bigger. We live in Yelm Washington. Thanks
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13
November, 2008:
Hi Glen,
I have written you before about a spider I saw in my yard, I believe it was a banded argiope. Now I have another photo of a more common orb weaver. I took this at night very close up and wanted to share this photo with you and all the people who visit your site. I live on the central coast of California.
Thanks a bunch,
Brian
P.S. If you know the name of this spider, please let me know and also the link on your website where I can find it. Thanks
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Reply: This and the one below both belong to the
family of araneus orb weavers. I'm not sure if they are
araneus diadematus but they have a similar cross to them
so I'll include them here.
13
November, 2008:
What is this? |
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13
November, 2008:
Hi,
I wonder if you could help me identify the spider in the attached photographs?
I live in the Paphos district of Cyprus and noticed the spider in its web attached to the guttering of the house. The spider was about 50mm across its legs and the body was about 20mm across. As you can see it had a very beautiful pattern across its body almost like a flower.
Regards
David |
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10
November, 2008:
Here is a huge spider I found in my garden on Long Island, October 2008.
Any idea on what it is or if it's harmful? |
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Reply: I'm not sure if
this a cat face orb weaver or araneus diadematus as it
has the cross on its abdomen. I'll put it in both!! glen
25 October, 2008:
Hey Glen,
I have a beautiful Cat-Faced Garden Orb Weaver Spider living above my bedroom window. Here are some pics of her sunbathing.
Great site, I really enjoy all the information!
Best,
-Stephen
Nice close ups, click for a
larger view. |
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Reply: It looks more
like araneus diadematus to me - glen
25 October, 2008:
Glen,
I used your website to identify the spider in my backyard. It looks like a Shamrock Orb Spider, just a little lighter color than the one in your photo. I took these photos yesterday. I live in Canton, Michigan. You can use these photos on your website if you want to. These are downsized photos, but if you need the original size just ask.
Rick |
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20 October, 2008:
I saw this on my garage today and hadn't seen one before. It is much larger than similar shaped spiders I have seen. I live in Bowmanville, Ontario. Canada. Any idea what it is? Hope you enjoy the picture.
Martin
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20 October, 2008:
Glen,
I have seen a few of these around the outside of my house. I could not find
one like it on your site...can you tell me what spider this is?
Thanks,
Dan
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Reply: This is araneus diadematus too.
12
October, 2008:
Hello,
I came across your site while looking for a name for this spider. I think it may be one of the "marble" ones on your site. Its pretty gross looking to me, but may be interesting to you!!
Thanks kindly
Mary |
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Reply: This is araneus diadematus too.
8
October, 2008:
Hey,
I know I’m being a over zealous parent but we have a new born and I don’t want anything bad going on. I have found a lot of webs around my home here in Gloucester, MA, and today I was able to photograph one. I have seen this spider around my house and they seem to be even bigger depending on the time of year.
Can you put my mind to rest and tell me that it is just a harmless spider. Or if it isn’t what I should do.
Thank you,
Wesley |
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Reply: This is araneus diadematus too.
4
October, 2008:
Glen, first of all, your site is really great! Thank you for all the work you put into spiders and for sharing it with the public. Is there any way that you could tell me what type of spider this is? I looked on your site for a while and can’t find it.
Thanks in advance if you can find the time to assist.
Jamie and JoeClick for a larger view. |
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Reply: This looks like araneus diadematus too.
4
October, 2008:
I have been trying to overcome my fear of spiders recently. I have a 4 and a 7 year old, and I don't want them to be as afraid of them as I am. My good friend works at the San Francisco Zoo, and she took us on a behind the scenes tour of their bugs etc and showed us the room where they breed new bugs. I about peed my pants when we got to all of the spiders. I decided then that I needed to do something about it.
Luckily for me, I have a whole family of Halloween Spiders living off my porch. I think they are a cross orb weaver? I've done some research on them and my son and I feed them when we can. They are getting very big now. It's been about four days and I've taken some amazing photos of them. They are quite beautiful. I was hoping you had some info on them for me to share with my kids. I tried to explain how a spider eats to my son. But his four year old brain had trouble grasping it. I ended up telling him that the bug gets turned into a spider smoothy
for the spider. I'll attach a couple of photos so you can see what kind of
spider I'm talking about. Jenny. Thanks! Your site was forwarded to me by a friend, and I'm having a fun (and semi creepy) time looking at all the photos!
Click for a larger view. |
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Reply: This is a
garden orb weaver araneus diadematus. All spiders are venomous not poisonous but
in most like this one, their venom is not worse than a bee sting.
30 September, 2008:
Hi, We live in Bay City, MI, and were wondering if you could tell us what kind of spider this is? They are just about everywhere, but this one is the biggest i've found. We want to know if it is poisonous or not.
If you could give me any information, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Lacey
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28 September, 2008:
Could you please tell us what kind of spider this is?
Thanks,
Charles
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Reply: This is a
garden orb weaver araneus diadematus and you should not kill it!!
23 September, 2008:
Hi-
I visited your spider website, and would like to know what this spider is. I live in Northeast Ohio, about 35 miles south of Cleveland. This appeared in my front window about 2 weeks ago. While this one is outside, can you also tell me why my house is being invaded by spiders at this time of year? Should I kill this one? Is it poisonous?
Thank you
Katie
Click for a larger view. |
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Reply: This is a
garden orb weaver araneus diadematus.
21 September, 2008:
Dear Glen,
I found this spider on a rather large web (probably about a foot and a half diameter) which extended across the side door in my garage. Thanks to a rather expensive camera, I managed to capture some cool photos of it and I was hoping you could possibly identify it for me.. It's probably about the size of a half dollar piece (roughly). Thanks!
Andrew
Click for a larger view. |
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Reply: This is a
garden orb weaver araneus diadematus.
21 September, 2008:
Glen,
My husband and I have been finding these spiders in our home and outside. We live in North Eastern Ohio. We have no clue what this is and have small children. We just want to make sure it's not a brown recluse. If not is this spider dangerous? Thank you!
Jodi and Michael
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8 September, 2008:
Glen you're my hero!! All my friends think I'm weird because I like spiders and always encourage people to keep them around and to stop killing them, but I am lucky enough to be able to visit your website for encouragement, and for that alone I owe you a load of thanks!!
I have a few Araneus Diadematus living in my Quebec City yard, two of which I go out of my way to feed, as I wonder if there's any end to the size they'll grow to. Surprisingly enough, neither has exploded as of yet! I have attached a couple of photos of WHIZZY (so named because I love the way she "whizzes" down to her hiding spot) who has picked herself an amazing spot in the low cedars in the front yard, allowing her to gorge herself pretty much day and night!
On one of the photos she has mummified 2 insects at once, a moth and a fly that you can clearly see at the bottom. I did mention that she's quite greedy right?!!! On the other she is back in her hiding spot feeding on an earwig, all the while keeping one of her legs on her "alert" line, in case something else hits the web. I've noticed that the first thing she'll do will be to install some kind of "safety" line onto her prey in case she has to let go of it quickly, ensuring it's not gonna go anywhere while she's off catching something else!
A million thanks for your most informative and interesting web site Glen, I truly hope more people realise how beneficial arachnids are to the planet, and I believe people like you will greatly help.
Cheers and thanks again,
Anne |
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Reply: This is either a male or immature female
garden orb weaver.
31August, 2008:
Hi Glenda here is a picture of the front of the spider.
Kind regards
David
Click for a larger view. |
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24
August, 2008:
Found this spider which made a pretty elaborate web near the hose attached to my house. Kinda' spooked me...the "butt" was about 1" long and 3/4" wide. Any idea what kind of spider this is?
It's half dead in the picture...I should of taken a better picture of it's fangs.
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7 February,
2008:
Hi Glen! I found your Web site
shortly after finding the spider
attached to this email.
It was found in its web and resides
in San Francisco. I do not know what it
is but I'm guessing a Garden Orb-Weaving
spider. This is purely a guess. The body
is probably around 1.25 - 1.5" long.
it's hanging above my doorway and is
often above me as I leave the house. I'm
not entirely comfortable with it being
there. Late one evening upon leaving the
house, I saw it. I went in and grabbed
the camera, flash, and flash cable.
Holding the flash in one hand and the
camera in the other, I quickly took four
shots before it got uncomfortable with
me and scurried up and out of the way.
I thought you might enjoy the photo.
Cheers! Nathan
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29
October, 2007:
Could you please tell me what kind of spider this
is? It was outside my window. I live in Farmington
Hills, Michigan. It measured about four inches from
the back legs to the front. Thank you!
Sally
Click for a larger view.
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11
November, 2007
Hi, I took a photo of this spider in my back
yard and wondered if it was poisonous as
it has a distinctive red coloured back. Yours'
John
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Hey Glen! Thanks for having, from what I can
tell, is the best Spider identification
website available. I perused through the
different categories but came up
(surprisingly) stumped on this spider. I've
been seeing a TON of these in Berkeley, CA area
in the past month or two. They're usually
fairly large (1"-1.5") and I always see them in
a large circular web. It looks a lot like
some of the wolf spiders I've
seen on your page but I also read wolf spiders
don't usually hang out
in webs and this one seems to always be in a
web. Thanks for your help! -Sid
Click for a larger view.
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26
October, 2007:
Glen, I live in Michigan, and was wondering if
you might be able to help me identify this spider, it is
on the front of my house. I have never seen anything
like it. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Curt
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29
October, 2007:
Could you please tell me what kind of spider this
is? It was outside my window. I live in Farmington
Hills, Michigan. It measured about four inches from
the back legs to the front. Thank you!
Sally
Click for a larger view.
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9
October, 2007:
Hi Glen, Could you take a crack at identification of the
attached spider photo. It was taken in Perry, Michigan.
Thanks,
Kevin & Beth
Click for a larger view.
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8
September, 2007:
Hello, My wife called me at work this morning
after spraying the light fixture outside of our
front door. She told me that there was a huge
spider and that I would have to come home to
take it away and identify it.. We live in
Fremont, Michigan and I could not find a picture
of this species? Please let me know what you
think, and is it dangerous? Ive included a
couple pics.. Click for a larger view.
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Reply: This is Araneus diadematus,
the cross spider.
17 August 2007:
He/she made a web on my front porch, any idea of what kind it is?
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Reply: This is Araneus
diadematus, the cross spider.
17 August 2007:
Hi, my name is Michelle.. I found this spider on my front
porch, out of curiosity I googled him to see what kind he
is. Anyways, I see that you don't identify them, but here's
a few pictures.. Tell me what you think!
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Reply:
The spider identified as a possible
hammock spider is a male common garden spider (araneus
diadematus). It's a mature one and at this stage in its'
life and it does not make a web. It's only interested in
finding a female for mating. The female is usually bigger
and more often than not ends up eating the male after
mating. It's not dangerous. Dan
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11 August 2007:
I am a self proclaimed Arachnaphobe
and just moved to New Hampshire, where apparently, there are
many
spiders! I freak out over the smallest house spider, so you
can imagine my surprise (meltdown) when I see one of these
suckers.
I saw this one out on my deck this morning, climbing under
one of my plants (that's really just a small tree). My
boyfriend got a pretty good picture of it – can you help me
identify it? I've been all over the web, and it kind of
looks like a "hammock" spider – not sure though, I've never
seen one like this before. Can you tell me if it's
dangerous? Thanks for your help!
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11 June, 2007:
I took this picture in a backyard garden in Portland, Or. Can
you identify it for me? Thank You
Click for a larger view.
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Reply: This is Araneus Diadematus, a
garden orb weaver. 31
October, 2006:
So ... I just found this spider in my backyard today (in
WA state). Is it
what you call on your site an orb weaver? Either way, I
thought it was
pretty cool to find this 2 days prior to Halloween.
Thanks,
Stacie
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11
October, 2006:
found this big guy in my shed last
week...........mike r. michigan...
I feed him a few bugs to keep him fat!!!!
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11
October, 2006:
Hi ! I took a photo of this spider outside my front
door , in
Southern Ontario, Canada. I wondered if anyone could
tell me what
kind it might be. I've never noticed one this large,
around here
before. Its' rear-end was about the size of a marble. My
wife has a
spider phobia and something this size is the stuff of
nightmares for
her. I'll have to see it doesn't carry her off. Ha! ha!
PS:
Cool site, nice photos too.
Take care !
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11
October, 2006:
Dear Sir, I have found 2 spiders on each side of my porch
light. I have tried to identify them but I am stumped. I
believe them to be an orbweaver, but after viewing your site
I have found them to resemble many others. My family has
grown fond of these two spiders. We catch grass hoppers,
crickets, and other insects to feed them. I live in North
eastern Ohio, and garden spiders are common in this area,
but I don't believe that is what they are. I tried to get
some shots of the eyes, knowing this helps to identify them,
but they are sometimes shy and move very quick. I hope you
are able to at least help us put a name to are house guests.
I would greatly appreciate it. Many thanks, Christina
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8 October, 2006:
Wow! What an amazing website!!! We live in Northern New
York and seem to have a recent abundance of these spiders.
Thanks to your website I was able to gain some education and
calm my nerves as well. Thanks to all who have submitted the
great photos, they were extremely helpful in my quest to
identify this spider. I didn't realize what cool markings it
had until seeing the picture of it on a white background.
And on a special note... My family sends our deepest
sympathies for the loss of Australia's GREATEST Wildlife
Warrior. We have learned so much and gained a true respect
for wildlife through Steve's example. "Crikey, we're gonna
miss ya mate!" Our sincerest regards, Angela &
family,Dexter, New York
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8 October, 2006:
And a couple more for you,
Eddie |
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8 October, 2006:
Hello, I've been watching this spider in my garage for the
past month and a half. Just took a couple pictures of it, any
idea what it might be? It spun it's web completely covering one
of the glass garage panes and is usually visible from underneath
from outside the window but was up higher when I went to take
these pics. I will try to get some of the underneath later
tonight. Thanks
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8 October, 2006:
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29 September, 2006:
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29 September, 2006:
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29 September, 2006:
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18 September, 2006:
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6 February, 2006:
Hi, Just thought of sharing this image to your site. I took this
image from Trysil Norway. I dont know much about spiders really
but I just thought they're fascinating. I also posted this image
in my blog & i got some interesting comments. Do drop by too.
Regards,
EyeQ
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Reply: This is araneus
diadematus and not considered medically significant.
13 January, 2006:
Hi Glen,
I love your
site. Thanks for posting the great spider pics. This guy/gal hangs out
in front of my house in the evening waiting for the unsuspecting morsel
to happen into its web. I pretty sure it’s an Orb Weaver but I’m not
sure as to the specific designation (marble, garden, shamrock???).
Thanks,
Terry
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18 Sept, 2005:
Just wondering if anyone could help identify this spider. It
was found just hanging around outside the window of our house in
Southeast Michigan. It is about 1" to 1 1/2" big.
Thank you, BrandieClick for a larger
view |
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17 Sept, 2005:
Hi! I stumbled onto your site, which made me very happy. I
hope you can help me with my problem. Can you please identify this
spider for me? I found the spider in the corner of my porch,next to
its web. If it is any help to you , i live on Long Island in New
York. I have 3 children and a dog,should i be concerned? Thank You
for your immediate response to my request.
Sincerely Pia. |
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12 September, 2004
I live in Brampton, Ontario. This spider is on a web in the
front of my house. I am teriffied of spiders and i want my husband
to get rid of it but i want to make sure that it is not harmfull.
Please let me know
Thanks for your help
Misty Sturman
Reply: Looks like araneus
diadematus. |
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4 November, 2003:
Hello,
I just found your website, and saw your invitation to send you some
spider pics for ID.. here are a couple of pics of a brown spider,
with the general body shape of a Black Widow, the length is
approximately one half inch (body), and approx. 1.5" including legs.
Has some very nice fangs, can't really see them in the picture. I
still have him in a terrarium, he's a prolific web spinner. I have
no idea what species this is. The only other large web spinning
spiders here (Springfield, Massachusetts , USA ) are Golden Garden
spiders, which are slightly larger than this species, and some
species of jumping spider, which builds a web, but will actually
jump out of the web to capture nearby insects. I've seen it. I'd
appreciate you ID, or guess. The markings on the abdomen are very
distinctive.
James Gavioli
Westfield, MA |
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