cherylad
 Regular Plants Contributor
S. Liberty County - Texas
Posts: 5278
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 2:32 pm Post subject: Boris... the spider |
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I am NOT a fan of spiders. Yes... they have their purpose in life... but they're better off just keeping their distance from me (or vice versa).
However... I've been watching this one spider for a few weeks. He's set up home right over one of my larger flower containers. I wasn't so much interested in him, but how he was making his web. So I let him stay since I've never seen him leave his web.
Yesterday, he was having a great day, food wise.
When I got home, he had captured what was probably a fly, a grasshopper and a small butterfly.
I watched him devour the butterfly's inerts and then kick the remains out of the web. This morning, the fly and grasshopper were both gone. Wonder what he'll do now that his belly is full?
spider's backside ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden )
spider's belly ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden )
Oh yeah... anybody know what kind of spider this is?
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eileen
Forum Moderator
Scotland
Posts: 18528
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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Looks like a Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia.) Great shots of the insects he's caught all bound up in silk. 
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cherylad
Regular Plants Contributor
S. Liberty County - Texas
Posts: 5278
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:51 pm Post subject: |
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I wanted to get closer for the photos... but I was too scared to! 
Even the rest of the evening, everytime I felt something brush against me, I'd jump and swat at it.
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glendann
Texas
Posts: 9281
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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Toni can tell you her name.She is a writting Spider.I had about 5 of them one year. She will make a big sack and lay her eggs in it and then hundreds of babies will hatch from it and the wind will spread them to you neighbors and miles away.They are the best insect catchers.
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but by the moments that take our breath away.'
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cherylad
Regular Plants Contributor
S. Liberty County - Texas
Posts: 5278
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Gives me shivers thinking about hundreds of baby spiders floating around!
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eileen
Forum Moderator
Scotland
Posts: 18528
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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Glenda is right another name for this spider is Writing Soider. This name comes from the large white zigzag in the centre of its web called the stabilimentum or web decoration which can look like writing.
It's also known as a Corn Spider or Golden Garden Spider.
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cuatro-gatos
Southern California
Posts: 401
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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That is one beautiful spidy. Wish we had a few in
our backyard.
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mart
NE Texas
Posts: 743
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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In Texas we call them cotton or cottonwood spiders. They are harmless and fascinating to watch. We have a few here yearly !! Make a huge web and helps with fly control.
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Delly
Quizmaster
Clintwood Virginia
Posts: 312
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:42 pm Post subject: |
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wow can someone ship some of those babies this way, the flies are absolutely NUTS this time of year around here!
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Quick RUN the squirrels have taken the garden hostage and they have NUTS!!!
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glendann
Texas
Posts: 9281
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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Yes,here in this part of Texas they are a site to behold.I am not afraid of spiders but (my kids) Heather and Kevin fear them and I'm not sure why .If you leave them alone they will you.I do kill them if they are in the house.I don't have that many inside ones.
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'Life is not measured by the breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.'
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cherylad
Regular Plants Contributor
S. Liberty County - Texas
Posts: 5278
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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Hope he just keeps to himself and keep on doing his thing!
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Kay
Lincoln, Nebraska
Posts: 1114
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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I don't really care for spiders, but the garden spiders just fascinate me. They can be pretty big, and the webs they weave are strong! Whenever I come across one in my gardening travels, I just leave it alone. 
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Kay
To love what you do, and feel that it matters - how could anything be more fun?
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featherphobia
Central, Louisiana, 70739
Posts: 157
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:09 pm Post subject: |
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Those are great to have around, and pretty too. I hate when you walk into a web unexpectedly though those might be big enough to avoid.
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daisybeans
annapolis md
Posts: 3675
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| Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:05 am Post subject: |
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Cool. I don't mind spiders. I don't like getting the web all over me. The big ones are very fun to watch. This guy is a real beauty.
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Daisybeans/MaryAnn
"Once the relation between poetry and the soil is well established in the mind, all growing things are endowed with more than material beauty." -Elizabeth Lawrence
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Lil Bug
Houston
Posts: 23
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| Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:39 am Post subject: |
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This guy has a lot of names also goes as a banana spider , or golden orb.I had one on my tomato plant but he moved on before I could get a picture.
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