[Posted separately to ba.garden, too. -- TR]

I was out during an unusually warm evening attempting to reduce the
number of pests through direct conflict that generally feast on my
garden and trees unfettered from human contact. I was providing this
vigilante-style justice to several snails, slugs, pincher bugs, and
beetles when I ducked my head into a heavy silken thread stretched the
six feet from my persimmon tree to one of my cars.

This type of steel-cabling has usually been a good indicator of a black
widow's presence. But the Shelob that greeted me from the middle of her
tram was not black nor did she have the tell-tale hourglass in the
abdomen. This Behemoth was orange and gray! It had a bulbous body like a
blacky but wasn't aggressive.

I've just read an article in Discover Magazine on spiders in the US and
immediately thought of the hobo spider. Has anyone else run across this
spider or can you provide any other information on it?

The "Arachnophobic" Ranger

PS: She was FAST! Before I finished staring at her, she was back in the
persimmon tree and gone for the night.

"The Ranger" wrote in message
...
[Posted separately to ba.garden, too. -- TR]

I was out during an unusually warm evening attempting to reduce the
number of pests through direct conflict that generally feast on my
Good move!

....
beetles when I ducked my head into a heavy silken thread stretched the
six feet from my persimmon tree to one of my cars.

This type of steel-cabling has usually been a good indicator of a black
widow's presence. But the Shelob that greeted me from the middle of her
tram was not black nor did she have the tell-tale hourglass in the
abdomen. This Behemoth was orange and gray! It had a bulbous body like a
blacky but wasn't aggressive.
Well, from that description it's hard to tell. However, the good news is
that the Black Widow doesn't (usually) weaver her web outdoors. She's very
shy and retiring, and is usually found in dark, warm, hidden
places--woodpiles, for instance. She also doesn't make that much of a web.

Not knowing where you are, my guess is that what you found was probably one
of the orb weavers. While they certainly look threatening, they're harmless
(unless you have a distinct "look & feel" like a small bug...(:-o)!).

I've just read an article in Discover Magazine on spiders in the US and
immediately thought of the hobo spider. Has anyone else run across this
spider or can you provide any other information on it?
Well, the Hobo Spider is a member of the funnel web clan (IIRC). So no, it
would have a ground based web not a large aerial one. That and the
coloration you'd described is wrong.

The "Arachnophobic" Ranger

PS: She was FAST! Before I finished staring at her, she was back in the
persimmon tree and gone for the night.
Good for her! This way she'll be around to help you eliminate those other
pesky things that like your garden as much as you do...(:-o)!


L8r all,
Dusty

In article ,
"The Ranger" wrote:

[Posted separately to ba.garden, too. -- TR]

I was out during an unusually warm evening attempting to reduce the
number of pests through direct conflict that generally feast on my
garden and trees unfettered from human contact. I was providing this
vigilante-style justice to several snails, slugs, pincher bugs, and
beetles when I ducked my head into a heavy silken thread stretched the
six feet from my persimmon tree to one of my cars.

This type of steel-cabling has usually been a good indicator of a black
widow's presence. But the Shelob that greeted me from the middle of her
tram was not black nor did she have the tell-tale hourglass in the
abdomen. This Behemoth was orange and gray! It had a bulbous body like a
blacky but wasn't aggressive.

I've just read an article in Discover Magazine on spiders in the US and
immediately thought of the hobo spider. Has anyone else run across this
spider or can you provide any other information on it?

The "Arachnophobic" Ranger

PS: She was FAST! Before I finished staring at her, she was back in the
persimmon tree and gone for the night.



Don't be such a girl...... ;-D lol
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 08:27:32 -0700, "The Ranger"
wrote:



I've just read an article in Discover Magazine on spiders in the US and
immediately thought of the hobo spider. Has anyone else run across this
spider or can you provide any other information on it?

http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/~pjbryant/b...20aurantia.htm

http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/~pjbryant/b...oaxacensis.htm

http://www.phorid.net/spiders/gallery.htm

and then

http://pep.wsu.edu/pdf/PLS116_1.pdf


Does that help any?


Penelope

Dusty Bleher wrote in message
...
[snip]
This type of steel-cabling has usually been a good indicator
of a black widow's presence. But the Shelob that greeted
me from the middle of her tram was not black nor did she
have the tell-tale hourglass in the abdomen. This Behemoth
was orange and gray! It had a bulbous body like a blacky
but wasn't aggressive.
Well, from that description it's hard to tell. However, the good
news is that the Black Widow doesn't (usually) weaver her web
outdoors. She's very shy and retiring, and is usually found in
dark, warm, hidden places--woodpiles, for instance. She also
doesn't make that much of a web.

Sorry about the lack of details there; I was quite happy standing my
minimum six feet away while I cleaned off her webbing. shudder Yeesh!

I've not had too much experience with widow's webs but those in my FILs
vineyards tend to be pretty complex, not Charlotte's Web material but
grand enough to net flies, honey bees, and meat-bees.

Not knowing where you are

California, Northern Prefecture of our fiefdom.

my guess is that what you found was probably one of the
orb weavers. While they certainly look threatening, they're
harmless (unless you have a distinct "look & feel" like a
small bug...(:-o)!).

Great... The thing was as big as a nickel when she was all scrunched up
tight! When she took off across the remaining strand, she easily gained
in sized to a quarter (although my daughter-units both say larger.) I
can understand a small bug's terror at seeing her coming.

shudder

I'll just water my persimmon from afar for a while. There's no need for
me to get much closer than -- oh -- twenty feet for a while.

The Ranger

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in message
...
[Arachnid Escape]

Don't be such a girl...... ;-D lol

You're saying that like it's a Bad Thing(sm)! You come remove it from my
persimmon tree!

The Ranger

Penelope Periwinkle wrote in message
...
[snip]


http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/~pjbryant/b...20aurantia.htm


http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/~pjbryant/b...oaxacensis.htm

http://www.phorid.net/spiders/gallery.htm

and then

http://pep.wsu.edu/pdf/PLS116_1.pdf

Does that help any?

Yes! Thank you. I think it's either the Golden Orb Weaver or the
Jeweled Araneus. Either way, it was large, fast, and entirely to
In-Your-Face-Human for me.

The Ranger

In article ,
"The Ranger" wrote:

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in message
...
[Arachnid Escape]

Don't be such a girl...... ;-D lol

You're saying that like it's a Bad Thing(sm)! You come remove it from my
persimmon tree!

The Ranger



That's what jars are for! :-)

I like spiders.
They are voracious predators of "bad" bugs!

'sides, I was just teasing you...
As long as they are outside, I'm ok with them.
Just keep them out of the house!

But, the cats think they make great toys......
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in message
...
In article , I
wrote:
OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in message
...
[Arachnid Escape]

Don't be such a girl...... ;-D lol

You're saying that like it's a Bad Thing(sm)! You come remove
it from my persimmon tree!

That's what jars are for! :-)

Don't laugh too much but I thought of that. If she'd remained curled up
I probably would have been able to screw my courage up enough to do it
without thinking about the consequenses...

I like spiders.
They are voracious predators of "bad" bugs!

In other people's yards, I agree!

'sides, I was just teasing you...

I know. That's why I was pushing you towards it. I'm a very much, "You
show me first how it's done" type of guy. (And with spiders, I often
need multiple lessons, so I'll happily keep pushing you towards them.)

The Ranger

In article ,
"The Ranger" wrote:

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in message
...
In article , I
wrote:
OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in message
...
[Arachnid Escape]

Don't be such a girl...... ;-D lol

You're saying that like it's a Bad Thing(sm)! You come remove
it from my persimmon tree!

That's what jars are for! :-)

Don't laugh too much but I thought of that. If she'd remained curled up
I probably would have been able to screw my courage up enough to do it
without thinking about the consequenses...

I like spiders.
They are voracious predators of "bad" bugs!

In other people's yards, I agree!

'sides, I was just teasing you...

I know. That's why I was pushing you towards it. I'm a very much, "You
show me first how it's done" type of guy. (And with spiders, I often
need multiple lessons, so I'll happily keep pushing you towards them.)

The Ranger



grins
You'd hate my back yard at night... Most of my larger arachnid buddies
are nocturnal. I don't see them during the day but have to watch where I
walk at night due to all the webs!

I wish I had more of the big bananna spiders in the grapevines.
They are diurnal...

I have gourd bird houses put up and they are frequented by house wrens.
They eat a lot of diurnal spiders to feed their kids! Great little
predators for beetles too.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson