garden spider

[billy]

this wee beauty is living in my garden shed. she's quite a size about 2 inches span. think its Larinioides sclopetarius but i may be wrong

[El Annie]

Wow, takes my breath away, we have some fairly big spiders in our house but nothing as splendid as that!!

El Annie

[billy]

as she's in the shed, there's not much in the way of passing food, so i catch blowflies and other winged beasties to feed her. maybe its ethically wrong but it's facinating watching her detect, bite and wrap up her prey

[Gill Osborne]

It's not a Garden Cross Spider, is it? Ariadne diadamatus...think i've spelt that right! Have not got a book to hand! Whatever she is, she's absolutely gorgeous!
I adore spiders...just as well as we always have them coming in from the garden! We were on holiday in the Lake District about a month ago and I went around the house with a clear plastic tub to collect all the 'stray' spiders up and put them outside...my husband thinks i'm nuts!!! At the moment we have an extremely large House Spider( Tegenaria domestica) patrolling around. I've seen him on and off for a few weeks, normally upstairs, but he seems to be more lively at the moment! I was reading today though that it's the breeding season for house spiders and they are much more active now...he's obviously looking for a wife!!! I assume 'my' spider is a male as 'he' has massive palps...
I was on the Bird Forum on Friday night from 9pm onwards(after Gardeners World!) and kept imagining that I was seeing something moving rapidly out of the corner of my eye...I put it down to just being tired! Then, just as I was winding up for the night I saw a giant(!) spider run across the wooden floor and stop on the rug.......had to leave a note out for hubby to watch his feet when he got back from the pub!!!

[Eileen]

I've got a smaller version of the same spider living in one of my window boxes Billy and have been fascinated by her for weeks. Glad to see someone else has one too - they are gorgeous!

Gill we have laminated flooring in our living room and some of the "common or garden" spiders are absolutely huge up here too. The first time my 20 year old daughter saw one she was convinced that what she had seen was a mouse - purely because of the size and the speed it moved at - you should have seen her face when she discovered that her "mouse" was actually one BIG spider. Frankly I think she would have prefered it to have been a mouse.

[helenol]

I am living in fear at the moment, as I am waiting for the humongous house spider to appear. Sorry folks, but I just can't hack these things, although I would never harm them.

We also have loads of the garden spiders at the moment, outside where they belong! That doesn't bother me, but as soon as one steps into the house, that's it.

Last year, I was carrying a pile of ironing upstairs to be ironed. I placed a pair of jeans onto the ironing board, and lo and behold out of the jeans crawls one of the house spiders. I couldn't move. I stood there frozen for about an hour before hubby came home and tried to catch it, but it was too quick. I still look around now for it.

The fear of spiders outside in the garden is lessening now, thank God, but those huge house spiders - I'll never get used to them.

H

[Geraldine]

For those who love spiders, as I do, and those who can't handle them, a useful tip! I may be wrong in this, but I have noticed with the 'mouse-sized' house spiders, that they go along the same path, roughly, across the same bit of floor at the same times every day. (Or am I imagining this?)

[helenol]

Are these "mouse spiders" common throughout the UK or just in the South?

[Geraldine]

Hi Helen,
I don't even know the proper name for them, I'm afraid, but the ones I see have up to marrowfat-pea sized dark or black bodies, and very long "Daddy-long-legs" type legs with clearly defined 'kneepads'. They also 'weigh something' when you pick them up, whereas most spiders just tickle. Sorry for the completely unscientific account! I usually just pick them up and put them out if the weather's ok, or ignore them if it's cold or wet.

[helenol]

Good grief, you pick these things up, I would die of heart failure if I had to do that, give me a snake anyday!

[Geraldine]

I held a Red Corn Snake yesterday, he was gorgeous. His name was Monty. Spiders, snakes, easy-peasy! People on the other hand scare the **** out of me! :hippy:

[billy]

it seems that the giant ( house spider )? is colonising its way north. it's suppose to have a leg span of 4 inches. now thats scary. its moths that send me in a panic. sheer terror! big fluttering, in your hair,always about your head aaaahhhhhh

[pauco]

Give me snakes anyday. Spiders really do get to me ok Iam sh*t
scared. the son in law has got one of these bloody great hairy
things in a glass vivarium, he knows I wont go in if the thing is on view maybe hes trying to tell me something!!
bert.

[Surreybirder]

Does anyone know what this little one (http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php?photo=11181&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1) is, please? S/he's only about 14 mm diameter (body, that is).
It lives in our compost bin and is great at catching flies!

[helenol]

It's not the body that gets to me, it's those loooooooong loooong legs.urgghhh. Makes no difference whether they are poisonous or not! A spider is a spider.

Bert - you mean you haven't got the message yet! :-)

[ivewalmer]

While we are on spiders - anyone know what this is?

Ivan

[ivewalmer]

Picture would help I guess!!

[Geraldine]

Looks like the underside of a garden spider, the sort with a cross on their backs?

[walwyn]

Surreybirder,

Probably a garden orb spider.
http://www.ivory.org/spiders/araneus.diadematus.html

[Geraldine]

Interesting link, Walwyn. Thanks.

[Surreybirder]

Originally posted by walwyn
Surreybirder,

Probably a garden orb spider.
http://www.ivory.org/spiders/araneus.diadematus.html
Thanks, Walwyn, that's the bozo-ess!
Behavious is right, too.
Ken

[Gill Osborne]

Glad you all thought it was a Garden Cross Spider....that's what I thought as soon as I saw it but then thought I'd better say nowt as that seemed to be my answer for everything!!! In actual fact I only really know about 5 types of spider...garden, crab,wolf,house and the giant Raft spider, or water, spider you get in the Norfolk Broads!!!
I think i'd better just ask for book tokens for Christmas this year!!!!

[willimac]

This will sound dumb but here goes, are there any British spiders that will bite, I dont mean a posionous bite, just a nip or so. This will settle an arguement.
Will

[Gill Osborne]

OK guys...you ain't gonna believe my reply!!! And before anyone says owt...no, i'm NOT a member of the Garden Cross Spider Appreciation Society!!!!
Years ago, when I was about 8 or 9 years old I used to collect spiders in jars to watch them produce their webs( this was soon knocked on the head when they kept escaping and were everywhere in the bedroom and my little sister almost had a nervous breakdown!!!). Anyway, one day, probably in the autumn, I came upon a HUGE female spider and wanted to add her to my collection( i must add here that spiders can only be kept one to a jar as they eat each other...as i found out...)so i put my collecting tub over her to make fall into it. Well, she descended down on her silk before I could get her in the tub and landed on the pavement. I was immediately worried that she would not be able to get back into her web so I went to pick her up...and she nipped me!!! Just a very tiny pin-***** but I did feel it! I got her back into her web though...and did not suffer any after-affects from the bite.
I once read that ALL british spiders are venomous as that's how they catch their prey but as we humans are giants compared to them I wouldn't think there would be enough venom produced to affect a person! Having said that...just as some folks react extremely badly to wasp or bee stings and go into anaphylactic shock( not sure if i spelt that right!)...does anyone know if there are any cases of that happening in the UK because of spider bite?
I know there are some lovely spiders in Australia and the USA that can cause really bad reactions or even kill but I don't think we have anything like that here.

[pauco]

HI Gill.
and we dont really want them!!! I think we need more and more
spider eating birds.

[helenol]

I'm with bert 100% on this!

[Gill Osborne]

Now come, come...spiders are lovely!!!! It's those horrible EVILIES(otherwise known as crane flies!) which scare the pants off me!!!!! I'll swear they know that they make me rather jittery and make a beeline for me!!!! Totally irrational fear I know, as they are totally harmless....they just make me exit the room rather fast!!! And I won't come back in until Neil has thrown them outdoors!!! I keep threatening to get a pet Praying Mantis or some carnivorous plants...that'll sort 'em!!!
It's a ridiculous fear I know, especially as spiders and snakes and all the usual phobias don't bother me! I used to work in a pet shop and handling my first tarantula was amazing...their footsteps are SO light! And we once had a 13ft Burmese Python called Sophie who was quite placid...you could only drape her around your shoulders for a maximum of ten minutes as she was so heavy! And when she slid( not quite the word i'm trying to think of!) over you, you could feel her muscles moving...amazing animals! Don't think they should be kept in captivity as pets though!!!

[christineredgate]

Well ,Bert,that killed off that thread !!!
christine.

[Gill Osborne]

Whoops, sorry! QUICK someone...stick another photo in!!!

[Geraldine]

Personally, I can't stand earwigs, and I'm not keen on Dahlias, because when I was very small, I saw my first Dahlia, lifted the growing flower head to sniff it, and an earwig ran out of each petal. Phobias are weird aren't they? Getting rid of them is so hard. I think family reaction to things plays a big part. My daughter-in-law is quite phobic about insects, and I have to work quite hard with my grandchildren to give a positive message for insects and spiders. They were all terrified a few years ago when I found a dragonfly in the car, but when I could calm them down, they all agreed how beautiful it was.
I'm afraid I quite like Daddy-long-legs too, Gill. We studied them at school, and I found it really fascinating.