So this lovely lady* (I assume) has moved outside our kitchen window.**
I’ve tried to ID her and the best I can come up with is the common house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum), but she doesn’t really match the pictures I’ve seen.
She’s an inch plus in length (not including legs - that’s just body). Web is a classic orb web about 2-3 ft across and anchored well. Color (in case it’s not clear) is grayish-brown. No real visible markings or colors that I can see.
Tallahassee, FL is my location and she’s currently sharing the deck with two quite lovely banana spiders who are interestingly sharing a interconnected community web structure.
The other thing you can see is a small beetle that is destined to be spider poop.
** She’s actually been there before for a day or two, then one morning the web was gone and so was she for a couple of weeks. Tonight she showed back up. It’s an inconvenient spot as she’s actually blocking an exit off the deck. We’ve put up caution tape so as to avoid walking into her.
Based on what I could find, that’s an Australian spider. Not saying you’re wrong, just that she’s a LOOOONG way from home.
Final update: She was there this morning around 7:30, but now is completely gone. It’s like she was never there. Web completely gone (even the long anchor lines). She appears to be entirely nocturnal and quite mobile.
More power to you for being so relaxed about it, if that thing moved I’d probably have my house fumed. I am not fond of insects. That thing looks awfully juicy too if it gets smooshed so then there’s a gross wiggly legged mess that needs cleaning too.
That being said, it definitely looks like an orb weaver due to the nice web it made. I’ve seen one very much like it by a window unit air conditioner here before (Chicago)
I see them all the time here in northern Alabama. I’m no expert but based on my online research, I suspect it’s a tropical orb weaver. They spin a new web every evening, and destroy (eat?) it every morning. It’s amazing how fast they move when they spin their webs.
We have several similar varieties in So Cal. Nice to have around but I hate walking into the webs at night when they are stretched across my walkway, it freaks me out.
Heh. Thanks! I’ve always been fascinated by our 8-legged companions. And I live in Florida, so I could probably write a blog about the spider interactions we have here.*
My wife, on the other hand, gets the screaming heebie-jeebies if there’s a spider in the house. For some weird reason all her own though, she’s okay with our outside house guests.
Right now, we have our mystery guest, the Banana Spider Commune (now with 3 residents), the (big) wolf spider that lives just outside the door to the garage, and the little jumpy spider that’s taken up residence in my truck for the past couple of days.
scr4My spider does NOT have all that ‘fur’. She’s very smooth-skinned (at least from a couple of feet away).
