The Orb Weaver spider is not an aggressive species of spider. Unless they feel trapped or threatened they do not bite. An Orb Weaver spider bite has been compared to that of a bee’s sting and rarely leaves any side effects. Unless they build their web in areas where a lot of people are, they are quite harmless.
How do I identify an orb weaver spider?
An Orb Weaver spider as an adult is from two-thirds to over an inch long. Its abdomen is bulbous and usually brightly colored, with a pattern that is light to dark brown. There is a Golden Orb Weaver spider that has fine hairs and a bulbous abdomen that is purple in color.
Are orb-weaver spiders poisonous?
Orb weaving spiders have a bite that is nontoxic and carries a low risk to humans. These spiders rarely ever bite; they are not an aggressive species of spiders. Just try to avoid walking into their sticky web late at night. Should this spider crawl across the face, it may frighten to the point of a heart attack.
Where do orb weaver spiders live?
The orb-weaver spider prefers to live near the garden area of a home during the summertime. They may be found throughout the United States and North America. Their large circular web of six feet or more can be found between buildings and shrubs. They catch insects that fly like mosquitos and flies in these large orb-shaped webs.
Are orb-weaver spiders good for the garden?
Orb-weaver spiders are actually a good species of spider to have in your garden. They eat other pests and insects that could be harmful to them. They are usually not aggressive and timid spiders. When they are startled, they run from any signs of danger or threat. Although not a threat to people or pets, they do consume many of the pest-like insects in your garden.
Should I kill orb-weaver spiders?
Orb-weaver spiders are actually beneficial creatures and if possible, you should not kill them. There are some situations when these spiny-backed spiders are present in great numbers. This is when their webs may be knocked down regularly.
Are Garden orb weavers dangerous?
A garden orb weaver is hesitant to attack a human. However, on the rare occasion, they do bite, it typically results in a mild, localized pain that causes swelling and numbness. If these symptoms continue you should go to the doctor and have it checked out.
How long do orb weavers live?
The life of an orb weaver spider is about one year long. The summertime is the mating season for mature adult males and females. In late summer to early autumn they lay their eggs and then die in the winter. Both the male and female orb weaver is about the same size or length.
The Life Cycle of the Orb Weaver Spider
Orb weaver males try to attract the female by creating a line of silk outside the web. If everything works out how the males want it to, the mating takes place on this line of silk.
Female orb weavers lay several hundred eggs; all inside an egg sac. During the late summer, she will wrap her large clutch laid during the fall in dense silk. When the first frost of winter comes, the females die. The following spring her eggs hatch into young orb weaver babies.
How big are orb-weaver spiders?
In the United States, orb weavers are fairly large at nearly an inch long. Yet, this is nothing compared to the breed that is new, Nephila Komachi, measuring almost five inches in length. This breed was recently discovered in Africa.
What are the Scientific names for Orb Weavers?
The Orb weaver comes from the Araneidae spider family. The Orb weavers account for nearly 25% of this species of spider. In America and worldwide, there are over 10,000 Araneids. North America also has the yellow-banded garden spider.
Not all in the family of orb weavers build webs. For instance, genera Mastophora, from North and South America, and the Ordgarius from Australia. Also, the African species Cladomelea, these species create globules that are sticky and have a pheromone companion.
What are Argiope spiders?
This family of spiders customarily will not harm a human. Being bitten by one of these black and yellow spiders that live in the garden is similar to a bee sting. Accompanied by a little discomfort, swelling, and redness.
Unless the person bitten has underlying health issues there shouldn’t be any cause for alarm or worry. You can find these spiders in North America, Central America, and Australia, to name a few locations.
The male Argiope spider body size is small, in the range of 5-9 mm (.20-.35 inches in length). While the females size is larger at 19 - 28 mm (.75 - 1.10 inches).
How big is the biggest Orb weaver?
The orb-weaver females size makes them the metamorphic giant of this species, the males are average size. A Nephila Komachi female is 1.5 inches (or 3.8 centimeters) her legs stretch an amazing 4-5 inches long. The world’s largest spider web belongs to the golden orb weaver at more than a meter wide.
Are giant Orb Weaver spiders poisonous to humans?
Although the golden silk orb weaver venom is impressive, to humans it is not deadly. The orb weaver and black widow spider bite have one thing in common. Both of these spider venoms have neurotoxic effects. Each spider's venom has a different effect on the victim. If you do receive a bite from this spider, it may cause redness, blisters, and pain typically dissipating after 24 hours.
How many species of orb weavers are there?
Orb weavers are located all over the world, excluding Antarctica and the Arctic. In North America, there are around 180 different species of orb weaver spiders.
Additionally, there are 3,000 species of spiders in North America. The Loxosceles and Latrodectus species of orb weaver spiders are the only ones dangerous to humans. An average of four deaths from spiders occurs annually in America.
Why are they called Orb Weavers?
The orb weaver spider is part of the Araneidae spider family. They are popular for creating orb webs that have a shape like spiral wheels. Often found in the forest, gardens, and fields of North America. The word ‘orb’ comes from the English term meaning ‘circular’. This is where these spiders acquire their unique name from.
How do you know if you have an infestation?
The problems orb weavers cause are more aesthetic than health issues. Although they are peaceful insects when living in your home. You might be tired of cleaning up the messy webs left in the corners of your home. Although they aren’t really damaging, you still might find them to be an infesting pest.
How to be rid of Orb Weavers?
It can decrease the value of your property as there are a lot of spider webs all over the place. These webs can make your home very unsightly. If preserving the value of your home is important to you, it’s time to get rid of spiders in the house orb-weaving pests.
What are Orb Weavers?
There are over 3000 different types of orb weaving spiders in the world. They weave giant orb-like spider webs wherever they make themselves at home. Either indoors or outside. These spiders live peacefully, waiting calmly for some small insect prey to land in their web.
Where do these spiders hide?
If you want to know how to get rid of the spiders, you first need to figure out where they are hiding. These pests can be tricky in their attempt to find a safe place to live and spin their webs. A garage or basement not used often is an ideal location for them to live, hide, and create an infestation.
What sort of diet do they eat?
The diet of Orb weavers consists in finding other spiders, flies, cockroaches, and moths as food. Each day spinning new sticky web as their way to search and trap the prey that will become their food. Occasionally a hummingbird or small frog will become prey should they become trapped in their web.
Are Orb Weaver spiders good or dangerous?
The orb weaver is a rather docile and non-aggressive pest. When threatened, they will run away. These orb weaver spiders spiders are not dangerous to humans or their pets. They actually prove to be quite beneficial because they get rid of many other insects that are pests.
Harmless, yet fascinating to watch in action
Most popularly found in gardens in Australia is the garden orb-weaving spider, (Eriophora, sp.). These spiders work hard at night to construct intricate webs of silk. The classic, round web is created in the exact position for other insects to be captured in.
How do their webs get from place to place?
This is a question that often puzzles anyone who has seen the intricacy of an orb weaver’s web. The truth is, it’s simple-- the air provides a ferry line from one object to the next.
When the orb weaver finds the ideal place to build their web they place their abdomen tip in the air. Their spinnerets release a line of sticky silk to form the web. Because the spider’s silk is so lightweight, the slightest breeze will carry it until it lands on something solid.
Orb weavers are less common than other spiders, in that they take down the web in the light of day. Only to be back at it the following evening time to build a new web. This is done in an attempt to avert any predators.
Staying Elusive to Predators
These Orb Weaving spiders have developed the schedule to stay out of sight during the daytime to elude predators. If they didn’t do this, they would become easy targets for birds to prey upon. Although the main parts of the web are gone, this spider will keep hiding during daylight hours behind the structures of the web.
Camouflage for protection
Another way this group of spiders are protected is by their brown, mottled coloring. It makes it rather difficult when in search of these insect pests when in daytime mode. With the combination of their brown and yellow body, with legs tightly they appear to be part of a tree branch.
Getting rid of an orb weaver infestation
Because of the unique way these spiders are camouflaged, it can make getting rid of them that much more difficult. The best way to get rid of these elusive spiders is to call a rights reserved pest control company like A.N.T. Pest Control. Give us a call today and put an end to those unsightly spider webs forever.
