Orb weaver, commonly called banana spiders. If you sweep their web down a couple times they will relocate. If you leave them be they will get so big. Like even if you’re not afraid of spiders they will freak you out kind of big. For some reason I notice they thrive in my yard during rainy season. Sometimes I’ll find a spot in the yard where one has been undisturbed and it freaks me out. I cannot understate just how surprisingly large these damn things can get. The first time I saw one as a kid I thought it was a Halloween decoration.
I have these and Yellow Garden Spiders all over my yard. Recently, I went out to my greenhouse carrying four of those wrought iron tiki torches. I went right through an orb web at about knee height.
I looked down and saw that big ass spider inches from my knees. "Ah, shit!" I was trying to extract myself from her web without just dropping the torches. The whole time I was begging her, "please don't get on me! Please don't get on me!!"
Fortunately, she was as keen to get away from me as I was to keep her off of me, so between us we managed to separate ourselves. lol
This is what the yellow garden spiders look like. That's my chicken coop in the background.
The summer camp I went to as a kid would always mention these guys in the Pretty but Poisonous part of day 1. They said they have some of the strongest webs and after a rainstorm usually end up being the only webs still holding up (so maybe they don’t thrive in your yard when it rains? maybe they’re just suddenly the only ones left in your yard?). They also told us the big pretty ones are the female spiders, the males are about the size of the dime, and if anything happens to the web she will assume it was his fault and eat him
Well maybe they just have less competition, but typically during the summer rainy months is when I see them all over the place in my yard. (It may also be related to bug season since they are more active then)
Also I can attest to the strong webs, when they have time to really build it they feel more like a string than a web. I have walked into too many of these webs. I scream everytime it happens.
As a trail rider that leads allot I have had on me allot. Never biten, but heard they can? Anywho 25 years of wearing them I find em gentle Giants of thespider world.
MacArthur State park on Singer Island has a couple of nature trails that are usually LOADED with these. I like to photograph them and their webs. I bring a small spray bottle of water and VERY gently mist water into the air above the web creating an incredible effect that then dries away leaving no harm.
I found one of these under a palm tree in my backyard and made the mistake of pointing it out to my wife. I refused to kill it, but my terrified wife attacked it with a broom. I hope he survived.
you can actually take one of their webs, roll it into a string with a little blob at the end, attach it to a stick and go fishing for minnows. The minnows will bite at the little blob and they stick to it. Pull them out of the water and use them for bait.
We always called them banana spiders, because they were always hanging in the banana 🍌 plants in our yard. Their golden web is incredibly strong, if you ran into one it would nearly yank your head off 😆
Thank you Grounded for scaring the life out of me every time I was attacked by an orb weave spider. Now I get the cutest little moments of severe PTSD every time I see a real one! 🥲
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u/moonmangggg 18h ago
Golden orb weaver