1. Yes, it's a whole new look! Have questions or need help? Please post your question in the New Forum Questions thread Click the X to the right to dismiss this notice
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Seeing tons of unread posts after the upgrade? See this thread for help. Click the X to the right to dismiss this notice
    Dismiss Notice

Big, brown, striped spider

Discussion in 'Nature/Habitat/Garden Corner' started by technosapien, Jul 24, 2008.

  1. technosapien

    technosapien New Member

    Joined:
    May 28, 2007
    Messages:
    617
    Likes Received:
    1
    Hi all,
    I saw a big, brown and dark brown striped spider in the juniper tree in front of my house today. Big, maybe the size of a half dollar coin from leg tip to leg tip. Was wondering if it's dangerous or benign? If it poisonous and I should be worried I'd like to take care of it but if it's going to feast on the bagworms and other pests, I'll let it be.

    If I could find a picture I would but since I'm not sure what to google, I'm hoping someone here knows....

    Thanks!
     
  2. technosapien

    technosapien New Member

    Joined:
    May 28, 2007
    Messages:
    617
    Likes Received:
    1
  3. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2001
    Messages:
    3,277
    Likes Received:
    69
  4. KTdid

    KTdid Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2006
    Messages:
    3,430
    Likes Received:
    148
  5. technosapien

    technosapien New Member

    Joined:
    May 28, 2007
    Messages:
    617
    Likes Received:
    1
    KT: could be. I'll bring my camera with me today and if I see it again, snap a photo. It seemed perfectly content to let me look at it as long as I didn't breathe on it or touch it, so It may be quite photogenic. :)

    I have another nasty looking little spider in my back yard I'm going to look up. It seems my house's exterior is the spiderland arachnid zoo. Hey, as long as they're eating other pests and aren't dangerous to me, my family, or my dogs, happy eating. :)
     
  6. Kaosdad

    Kaosdad Will work for Rum

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2005
    Messages:
    2,557
    Likes Received:
    4
    Techno - the ones you need to look out for are the ones you can't see. Widows & Recluse (common in this area) prefer to be under things in nice little nooks - places you and your family would generally not go poking around.

    Have a raised deck? Go out at night with a flash light and see what you can see!
     
  7. tiff78

    tiff78 Broadlands Resident

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2006
    Messages:
    260
    Likes Received:
    0
    You sure it's not a Rabid Wolf Spider?

    We have those there! They are harmless but big and scary looking. Had a year when we had tons of those in our house! Eeek! Haven't seem much of them since, but we spray the outside of the house for bugs.

    [​IMG]
     

    Attached Files:

  8. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2002
    Messages:
    2,260
    Likes Received:
    34
    tons?! I never saw one! =)
     
  9. tiff78

    tiff78 Broadlands Resident

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2006
    Messages:
    260
    Likes Received:
    0
    We had several in 2005. I remember because I found one dead under the green chair and even dead it was HUGE! and we took the body to try and look it up on the internet. I was concerned about you seeing it right before bedtime because I didnt want you to have night-terrors after seeing it.

    I then saw several more after that. At the backdoor, in the kitchen (that one ran away alive because it went under the stove), in the basement.

    Apparently you saw them a lot last night too!
     
  10. technosapien

    technosapien New Member

    Joined:
    May 28, 2007
    Messages:
    617
    Likes Received:
    1
    Ooh, much closer to my memory of what I saw yesterday....

    I'll try to take a picture this afternoon. It was not out where I could see it this morning. It appeared to be warming in the sun yesterday so maybe if it's sunny this afternoon I'll see it again.

    Re: the hiding spiders, the one I saw last night was hiding in my siding, and came out when I plucked its web with a stick. It was MIGHTY fast, too, made me jump. Light tan with mean-looking pincers, smaller than a quarter but long legs. I'm worried it may be a brown recluse, but I need a better look to be sure. Hate to kill spiders if they're not really dangerous.
     
  11. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2003
    Messages:
    5,236
    Likes Received:
    249
    People swear that they have seen Brown Recluse in the area but not one has ever been produced. As for Black Widows, they do inhabit the region but I would not say they are "common".
     
  12. Kaosdad

    Kaosdad Will work for Rum

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2005
    Messages:
    2,557
    Likes Received:
    4
    Recluse are tiny things about the size of a penny. In order to get bit you have to really, really annoy them (hence the name).
     
  13. mdcrim

    mdcrim Member

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2003
    Messages:
    818
    Likes Received:
    17
    I had a HUGE black widow in my garage a few weeks ago. With a nice little egg sac right next to it. Needless to say, I used all the Raid in a 3 house radius...
     
  14. razng2grtboys

    razng2grtboys New Member

    Joined:
    May 15, 2008
    Messages:
    456
    Likes Received:
    0
    Brown Recluse are definitely around. My father was bitten by one a few years ago after putting on a pair of pants that he had stored in the garage. The bite caused a large and very painful lesion that took months to heal.
     
  15. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2003
    Messages:
    5,236
    Likes Received:
    249
    Northern Virginia is NOT considered a habitat for BR's. I am not saying that the occassional spider doesn't show up via some sort of commerce (train, truck...) but they are not prevalent here. If they are, I need proof.

    http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/brownrec.html

    Not saying your father wasn't bit by a BR but there are other spiders whose venom produces similar results to that of a BR. The Hobo spider for one (even looks a bit like a BR).
     
  16. tiff78

    tiff78 Broadlands Resident

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2006
    Messages:
    260
    Likes Received:
    0
    That fact sheet is dated Aug 1996, more than 10 years ago. Species find new niches all the time. In 10 years who's to say the BR hasn't made Northern VA a home?
     
  17. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2003
    Messages:
    5,236
    Likes Received:
    249
  18. Kaosdad

    Kaosdad Will work for Rum

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2005
    Messages:
    2,557
    Likes Received:
    4
    T8 - gotta disagree with you here big time. I have personally found hundreds of widows in this area (or one that travels really, really fast). As a Scout Leader I had to declare a shelter off limits tothe Scouts as the picnic tables were infested with them - about 20 per table (wish I had a camera - it was creepy!) - saw the same thing at a camp site in WV. I've captured two at Chez Kaos.

    The recluse has made enough of a foothold in the DELMARVA regios that the NCAC of the Scouts had issued an educational pamplet during my last active year of Scouting.

    IT'S GLOBAL WARMING I TELL YA!!!
     
  19. redon1

    redon1 aka Aphioni

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2005
    Messages:
    5,929
    Likes Received:
    69
    and pple wonder why i stay inside with a can of HOT SHOT within arms reach. more than 4 legs, less than 2- NOT welcome near me!!
     
  20. Kaosdad

    Kaosdad Will work for Rum

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2005
    Messages:
    2,557
    Likes Received:
    4

    :huh:
     

Share This Page