Login
Register
Comments & ID Thoughts
Apparently a Hawaiian Garden Spider. Been here under Lani canopy for almost 4 weeks.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Apr 5, 2020
- Photographed: Apr 1, 2020
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Kilauea, Kauai, Hawaii, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: Man-made structure (building wall, fences, etc.),Low foliage (shrubs, herbs, garden, excluding flowers)
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes:
You got it! She’ll try to be there until she dies. She might have small males dropping by to attempt to mate very soon. It is interesting to watch what male spiders will do to convince the females. I’ve watched male spiders get into a brawl, then all ended up mating with the female while another time a male dropped dead waiting for the female to accept him.
Thanks for getting back. You’re right. I’ve noticed one other spider, tan and smaller, in an adjacent smaller web, but apparently dead. Within a couple of days, it was gone. I assume that was a male. Not sure what happened to it. We’ve had some heavy trade winds here on island recently. Even torrential rain. Web is well mastered and withstood the weather surprisingly. Further, I’ve never seen the spider move. Question, is this spider poisonous to humans?
She has venom, but it isn’t significant to humans. She would only bite if someone handled her roughly. Spiders have some senses that we don’t. Some of them involve sensitivity to pressure against their bodies. She won’t move while she’s visible unless you do something to annoy her. She spends some of her time in a sheltered hiding place. I lost my yard orbweaver, Araneus diadematus, in a “bomb cyclone” in October. Your spider’s species may have webs that are better suited for tropical storms. Yes, the smaller spider was probably a male. It’s interesting that he had his own… Read more »