To give you an idea of size, I've held up my reading glasses beside her.
I've posted once before about this kind of spider, but they are so beautiful, and so strikingly large. This is the Yellow Garden Spider, one of Ontario's largest orb weavers. This is a female (research tells me the males are much smaller). The zigzag line in the web is called a "stabilimentum" and after reading about that, there is much debate as to why some spiders include a stabilimentum in their construction (hiding spot, warning to birds, reflects ultraviolet rays to attract insects...).
I do not fear spiders. I'm not keen to have one walk up my arm, but that's just a sensation thing. I am from the generation who "knew" Charlotte as the benevolent creature who could spin words into her webs and whose life sadly ended after befriending Wilbur, the runt pig. To me, spiders are good.
I don't fear bees or worms or praying mantises... but these guys completely creep me out:
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House centipedes are FAST and run in my bathroom at awkward times. (That's the price you pay for having an old house, I guess).
Are you brave when it comes to bugs, or do you run screaming?
No, I love some of them. Some make me sick. I've had garden spiders and yours is ready to lay eggs and make her egg sacks. One year, my garden spider made three sacks close together. Then she fell on the ground and died. I had a 3" centipede crawling up my leg once. I kept swatting if off but it would let go. Then I saw what it was and got it off. Some bugs are beautiful and others are just gross.
ReplyDeleteThey all horrify me. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteLike you I don't mind spiders, but hate centipedes. We once found a scorpion in a spider web in our house---nice work spider.
ReplyDeleteI am not a bug person...the little spiders don't bother me so much, but the bigs ones creep me out when they surprise me! And don't even get me started on centipedes! Old house here too! Shudder.
ReplyDeleteThose centipedes are horrid. I find several over the summer and flail around trying to find something to squash it with. They don't die easily. I don't want it to disappear and turn up in my bathtowel or bed!!!
ReplyDeleteLike you I dont mind spiders but I walked into a spiders web last night and hated that feeling of being covered in its threads.....and probably a spider somewhere too close!
I actually like most bugs. But I hate earwigs. And I had to scroll that picture of the centipede out of my field of vision. If there is reincarnation I think you had to be a horrible human to come back as a earwig or centipede.
ReplyDeleteI am not at all brave when it comes to bugs of anykind but I must agree with you that the spider is really very beautiful. Until you showed a photograph of her complete I just couldn't see her among the foliage.
ReplyDeleteI love those spiders. They are beautiful and very helpful in the garden. And don't worry about the centipedes. They look creepy but they are very beneficial. They are carnivores and gobble up all those nasty bugs that live in the walls. And they have quite a big appetite. I used to see them regularly in our Kingston home and our house was bug free! I haven't seen one around here yet.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh centipedes creep the ever living heck out of me!!!!! Silverfish and waterbugs are even worse, and don't get me started on cockroaches!!! I'm having flashbacks to my days in the city.....shivers!
ReplyDeleteI have a healthy respect for most - but hate the biting kind. And those with too many legs. That is a very beautiful spider, though I would not exactly be thrilled if she sat down beside me...
ReplyDeleteSince most of our spiders in Australia are poisonous we have a healthy fear /respect / awareness of them. My eldest has been bitten before and the recovery took a long time and was quite painful for him.
ReplyDeleteLike you spiders don't bother me, as long as I can see them. I am fascinated with the beauty of insects, though I don't like fire ants. i am very careful when outside. Have a great evening.
ReplyDeleteSue
Spiders don't bother me either. We have wolf/dock spiders. They look like a miniature tarantula. Snakes on the other hand...... and I live in the countryside with lumber piles and outbuildings and logs laying around......get the picture!
ReplyDeleteOrbs are magnificent! She'll be back next year, same place.
ReplyDeleteThat's one humungous spider! I don't mind spiders but I'm not keen on touching any insects.
ReplyDeleteNo, not a fan ... stay out of my way, I'll stay out of your way is my insect motto.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful spider! But centipedes, um, no. Not a fan.
ReplyDeleteSpiders and I have an agreement I will admire their weaving as a courteous weaver will and they will stay put. I adore the little jumping spiders as they are so cute. I am not happy with big bugs such as stink bugs or those really weird almost translucent spiders that look like scorpions but aren't .
ReplyDeleteI don't like spiders and centipedes in the house but I usually trap them in a plastic beaker and throw them out of the window because I don't like to kill things. Paul laughs and says they probably run straight back indoors.
ReplyDeleteI never had a problem in the past, like my twenties, with any sort of bug or animal. I now have a ton of phobias. I don't like anything with a hard shell, nor anything that startles me, like a cricket or grasshopper. Last night a huge moth got into our house and it was traumatizing. Oh, well. As long as spiders aren't poisonous, just keep them outdoors!
ReplyDeleteJane
Can't stand centipedes but I am ok with spiders. I was talking to someone who is a teacher who can't cope with even the name spider . She cannot even walk past a display of Charlotte's Web on the school wall.
ReplyDeleteI'm fine with any bug. It's the worms/snakes that send me screaming. (Yeah, I know, how the heck do I garden when even earthworms give me chills.) Earwigs and centipedes come way too close to being totally creepy like worms. That sure was a BIG spider you came across!
ReplyDeleteAs long as it can't fly I can squash it or ignore it as the mood strikes. If it flies...I run.
ReplyDeleteWow -- she's gorgeous -- great photo. I hate ants. I'm pretty good with spiders except in the bedroom. As long as they aren't poisonous ones. But I'm with you on those centipedes. Do you have stinkbugs? I hate those too!
ReplyDeleteI'm ok with spiders.
ReplyDeleteDon't like the look of that centipede though!
All the best Jan
RUN SCREAMING...any little thing that moves too fast with too many legs gives me the heebie jeebies!
ReplyDeleteI loathe slugs..but they are fascinating and do a needed job...when not munching on my seedlings. I suppose we're lucky not to have many poisonous creepy crawlies!
ReplyDeleteLove those huge garden spiders and their magnificient webs! I've taken tons of pics of them this summer and spent too much time just watching them work. So no, bugs and spiders bother me not but when I run across a large bull snake in the yard, I do JUMP! Once I know where they are though and which direction they are going, I'm ok.
ReplyDeleteThe spider is in the genus Argiope and there are several common species in Ontario. They are particularly evident at this time of the year when their webs stand out in the early morning following a heavy dew overnight. Did you notice the characteristic "staircase" in their web?
ReplyDeleteSeeing that colorful spider brought back memories of when we lived in Virginia and would see them in the yard. They are indeed beautiful and weave uch an intricate web. I am not generally fond of insects, but do so admire their ability to create such delicate, intricate and creative patterns. And, wasps are my nemesis...along with many-legged crawlies.
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