Are you arachnopobic? I’m not fond of many spiders, especially tarantulas, which really freak me out like the Dad in this video. Black widows are the worst, but at least I’m always able to destroy them before they have any chance to bite.
However, I will confess a fondness for wolf spiders – they never weave annoying cobwebs, they stick to upper walls & corners, and the only time I squish them is when they scurry across my furniture or kitchen counter or some other “forbidden” area. (I call it the “Darwin Method” – to specifically weed out the lower life forms who are genetically disposed towards crawling on my personal property…hey, it does work!!)
To everyone: What kinds of spiders do you like/dislike, or do you believe we’d be better off with out them?
I love those cute little jumping spiders - we had one at work and I had to ask the SDMB what kind it was, and there was a link to a page telling me they have very good eyesight and you can communicate with them by waving your “papae” and they’ll wave their real papae back at you - and he did! It was adorable. My coworker almost climbed the damned wall - I had to keep rescuing him from going over there.
The beautiful garden orb weavers are also very cool.
I admit I am not a fan of the hairy wolf spider types - we don’t have them here, but I don’t care for their general hairiness. I’m cool with tarantulas in the pet sense, though.
Portia jumping spiders, who specialize in eating other spiders. They basically tailor their hunting style to the type of prey. If it’s something they’ve never encountered before they will try different strategies until they find one that works.
I have always loved jumping spiders, too. I hate both of the kinds that live in my apartment, particularly the yellowish ones that try to join me in the shower.
I like Black and Yellow Garden spiders and don’t mind not-quite spiders like Daddy Long Legs, but hate Carolina Wolf spiders. Carolina Wolf spiders bite sleeping people and they’re one of the most common spiders up here. I also don’t like Parson spiders because they bite too (and not only when you’re sleeping. one ran across my hand and bit me three times before I shook it off), and I had a strange reaction to being bitten more than a dozen times on the small of my back - days of horrible backache.
Daddy long legs spiders are spiders. They just look similar to Harvestmen, who are arachnids but not spiders. The difference is obvious if you’re close up. The ones in your garage are most likely the spiders, as they’re to cobweb makers and prefer inside/cramped spaces. By the way, Harvestmen are my favorite arachnids in general.
By the way, neither type is “the most venomous in the world, except they can’t bite humans.” DDL spiders have weak venom, and Harvestmen don’t seem to have any.
All spiders are awesome!
Can’t really give a least or most favourite, I find them all fascinating, there’s so many weird spider behaviours. Bolas spiders are fascinating, water spiders are fascinating…
Never knowingly squished one, long may it stay that way.
My least favourite spider is any arachnid which has chosen to take up residence within eyesight of me. I don’t mind the webs out there in Natureland - that’s the spider’s place.
A web in or on anything belonging to me is a web in the wrong place, and said web will shortly be only a distant memory.
Tarantulas are my favorite. They are slow-moving and graceful; they are non-aggressive, and they have no interest in getting in my house. I suppose their “furriness” makes them seem less buglike.
I hate windscorpions (aka camel spiders, sunspiders, solpugids). I know they are not venomous, but they resemble scorpions (ick!), they move rapidly, and they get in my house!
My favorite spiders are the ones that aren’t anywhere near me, especially not in my house. My least favorite spiders are the ones that don’t respect my wish that they stay away from me and out of my house.
I made a thread about one I found in my house. I know they’re harmless, too, but I can’t help feel more grossed out by them than I do by scorpions. Vinegaroons and kin are also icky.
We hates them, we does. Spiders are double-plus ungood, in my book. I’m scared of them, and not afraid to admit it. Sometimes I can kill them; more often I call my husband (my knight in shining armor; I’m lucky he loves me enough to do it for me) to take care of the “dragon.”
Seriously - we call them “dragons” at my house now, because he’s rescued me so often.
I pretty much like all spiders. The ones that bug (ha) me ths most are the “daddy longlegs” type that gravitate to my bathtub for some reason. I hate having to rescue them in the morning when they’ve gotten themselves stuck in the tub. I’ll turn on the shower and see them getting washed towards the drain, so I have to stop and try to save them.
HATE HATE HATE Hobo spiders. 3 bites in the last two years, the first two were bad enough (big knots/festering sores), the last one landed me in the hospital for 4 days because the bite turned into cellulitis. On. My. Face. :eek:
The left side of my face/neck swelled up like a basketball. Thankfully it didn’t affect my sinuses or eyes. I still have a small knot on the side of my nose two months later.
We have cleaned and cleaned in the bedroom, but never found anything. (Bites were overnight everytime) Since then, I have taken the bed apart twice to be sure they aren’t there.
