I was bored so...

I got this little video of a female common orb weaver spider building her web. I know, I know, I was bored alright. If you don't like spiders, then don't watch this. I happen to like them, I think they are interesting.

Common... ok in my neck of the woods that spider is not common.. OMG she is seriosly the biggest spider i have seen i think ever besides a tarantula.. And the web she was building.. wow.. its huge.. I'd hate to get caught in that.. She'd eat me..

Here is a pic of a big one that we saw one day.. i was too chicken to go take a pic of it so I sent my wonderful man to do it for me..

Is it the same kind, maybe just a smaller version?

Looks like it Deunan. Here's a beauty for you, she parcked herself out on out patio last year, so I fed her anything we had around. (bats, small birds, obnoxious kids, etc...LOL)

those markings are beautiful Em.. I bet she was fun to watch...

Deunan wrote:

Common... ok in my neck of the woods that spider is not common.. OMG she is seriosly the biggest spider i have seen i think ever besides a tarantula.. And the web she was building.. wow.. its huge.. I'd hate to get caught in that.. She'd eat me..

Here is a pic of a big one that we saw one day.. i was too chicken to go take a pic of it so I sent my wonderful man to do it for me.. Is it the same kind, maybe just a smaller version?

Yup, that would be the same one there. They will be out for another month or so and then go into hiding as it gets cold out.

emetakleze wrote:

Looks like it Deunan. Here's a beauty for you, she parcked herself out on out patio last year, so I fed her anything we had around. (bats, small birds, obnoxious kids, etc...LOL)

oooo, nice pic Eme. Looks like a Black and Yellow Garden Spider Argiope aurantia I'm not positive, though. Nice markings.

Yep, thats what it be cham. (actually we call it a corn spider around here cuz there's so darn much corn and they love to live in there.) Here's another shot of her:

And here is a shot of a mantis that was hanging around our lilac trees, good critter too ate alot of bettles and such for us.

And here is the clincher! A nasty little bug called a dobson fly, very aggresive.

The praying mantis is really cool! Don't see them that much around where I'm at. In the central valley of California you will see them. They are good to have around. Never seen a Dobson Fly before. Looks like it has some pinchers on em there.

That Dobson fly looks pure evil. Sick. I'd wet my pants if I came across something like that. How long is it?

B_B

Boingo_Babe wrote:

That Dobson fly looks pure evil. Sick. I'd wet my pants if I came across something like that. How long is it?

B_B

LOL! As you can see, it's about 3.5 inches. (this one is quite docile, mainly because I pickled it for the science department at the school I work at.

you wouldn't catch me near it if it wasn't already dead. ~:> ) This one is a male, the pincers are pretty big and sharp but there isn't a whole lot of power behind them. The female of the species has smaller, thicker ones. And let me tell you, she hurts! While we were camping the last time I went and took a shower and one of the females took exception to me showering where she was planning on laying her eggs (in the drain I suppose, they live part of their pupal stage in water) and she came flying out at me and latched on very close to an extreamly sensitive area

ops: . Actually broke the skin! Oh, and did I tell you they pop when you ha-whack them? >

It's quite messy

, at least I was showering...