I discovered a new tenant in my garden today

[madeleone]

I was more than a little worried upon going out to check my garden today (which is right on my front deck in a group of buckets and planter boxes) for ripe tomatoes and discovered this very scary looking resident. The body alone is at least an inch long and with those long legs it looks enormous!




I called hubby out to bring his phone so I could take a picture, he was sure it must be deadly, his reasoning was because it's so pretty. Upon looking it up it's a Argiope aurantia commonly known as the yellow garden spider. While it is venomous it's said these spiders are not aggressive. They might bite if grabbed, but other than for defense they do not attack large animals and their bite is like a bee sting. So even though I'm not a huge fan of spiders, for now, I'm adopting the live and let live philosphy. Maybe she'll eat enough mosquitos to earn her keep.

Comments

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. I have a fairly simple rule about multi-legged wildlife: if it's outside, I let it be (except for the boxwood beetles that cover the side of my house in autumn). if it's inside, I will catch and release it if possible and smash or spray it if not. And I don't even try to catch those running feathers that we used to call "thousand-leggers" when I was a kid. If they are in my house, they are toast (after I finish screaming).

[hbartthe2nd.livejournal.com]

I’m going to take your word for its beauty. I can’t bring myself to look at the pic.

[madeleone]

I'm with you, I don't want them in my house. Any squishing to be done here has been delegated soley to Mr. Madeleone.

Although when reading up on spiders they said most homes do have some and they prey on smaller bugs in your house so they are doing you a favor. It stands to reason if they couldn't find enough to survive they would probably move on. What creeped me out was the fact they lay egg sacs that hatch out hundreds of baby spiders! Eeeeeeep!

As long as this one stays in the garden we shall get along fine.

[madeleone]

That's why I put it under the cut, I was worried some of my flisters might have arachnophobia and didn't want to freak anyone out.

Even though I'm not especially fond of spiders, it is rather pretty.

[enchanted-jae.livejournal.com]

Back when I had a raspberry patch, I'd get a few of these spiders in it each year. They are remarkably chill. Their webs are strong, and that zig-zag pattern in the middle is to prevent birds from flying into them and destroying them! I would pick berries around my spiders. I took note of where they were and left them alone. Sometimes, I'd discover a new one, because when I'd tug on a berry, it would tug the web. Their webs sound exactly like silk tearing, which makes sense, since they're made of silk! Typically, the spiders didn't even move while I picked berries around them. They would move a little if I disturbed their webs a bit, so I was careful not to. Enjoy your colorful garden guardian!

[madeleone]

Yeah, I watched a video about them and the guy said their silk is very strong and if the same material were as big around as a toothpick and woven into a web, it could ensnare a human (shades of Shelob!) And if it were as thick as a pencil it could stop a 747 at speed! (How he came to this conclusion I have no idea, it could be complete BS, but it sounded very impressive! LOL)

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you let the spider be. Spiders are an important part of our ecosystem, eating bugs that might otherwise be eating your tomato plants. We have loads of spiders here at Manderly, as we have lots of trees and shrubbery. We let them be, and even go out of our way not to disturb their webs. I even have an agreement with the indoor spiders: they stay off the floor, and I stay off the ceiling and walls. It works very well, and I'm sure that they find bugs to eat that get inside somehow. We love our spiders!

[mywitch.livejournal.com]

I always* let spiders be, happily rescuing them from sinks and tubs or encouraging a new outdoor lifestyle.

*Except for one time... I had been letting these medium-sized black spiders do their thing and then one night I went into my room to go to bed and there were five of the little f*ckers on the walls and ceiling. So first I yelled at them for taking advantage and then I went on a kiling spree.

[madeleone]

I even have an agreement with the indoor spiders: they stay off the floor, and I stay off the ceiling and walls. This statement made me laugh, I am in total agreement. LOL

[madeleone]

Can't say as I blame you, dearie--we all have our limits. It sounds like that group had exceeded the boundary of their rental agreement. ;-)

[blueartemis07.livejournal.com]

Garden spiders I can live with. Surprise spiders, not so much.

[madeleone]

Totally! I'm glad I saw this one before I started inspecting tomatoes.

I noticed this morning she'd moved her web from the tomato plant to some of the shrubs in front of the deck, maybe she wasn't catching enough bugs there.

[mollywheezy.livejournal.com]

*shudder*

[beffeysue.livejournal.com]

We have similar spiders here in SC, and they're variously called writing spiders or golden orb weavers. And they are very helpful in the garden.

[madeleone]

My son the biology teacher mentioned that they had an orb weaver in their garden last summer. I checked out a pic and the have quite similar markings. I think the markings on Shelob, as I have named her, look rather like a sci-fi alien: huge head big eyes and little torso with arms raised in the air. LOL

[beffeysue.livejournal.com]

When I was still living at home and commuting to my college classes I used to collect spiders from other rooms in the house and put them in the two windows in my upstairs bedroom. It would get so warn in my room that I'd have to open the windows for the breeze and these small insects used to come through the screens and fly around. Those spiders did a great job of cutting down on those critters. 8^)