Comments & ID Thoughts
I think this is what it is! I had to research to make sure it's a beneficial buddy.
Eriophora ravilla, the tropical orb weaver, is a species of orb weaver in the spider family Araneidae.
Are orb weavers good?
Orb weavers are very docile, non-aggressive spiders that will flee at the first sign of a threat (typically they will run or drop off the web).
They are not dangerous to people & pets, and are actually quite beneficial because they will catch and eat a lot of pest-type insects.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Apr 8, 2020
- Photographed: Apr 8, 2020
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: New Caney, Texas, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: Man-made structure (building wall, fences, etc.)
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes:
Here’s a link to one with the markings yours has https://spiderid.com/picture/54167/ Yes you got it! Eriophora ravilla. This one can be tricky because yours has one of the less-seen markings of the species. Great job!
Awesome! Do you know if it’s male or female? I noticed he/she moved in at the top of one of my brick columns on my back patio. I have a trellis there where a bleeding heart vines up and other plants at the base of the column.
I hope he/she stays awhile – I have an awesome food garden so the fact that they are beneficial and eat pests
I will let he/she live rent free! LOL. 🙂
Pretty sure that’s a female. She has a very wide abdomen for holding her maturing eggs. The males are much smaller. If you see her in the center of an orb web, that’s another way to tell it’s a female Orbweaver. Another way to tell gender in adult spiders is the ends of the pedipalps. If they are swollen it is a mature male that is ready to mate. Your spider has them bent under, but they don’t look swollen. The females display a scientific form of gigantism. The males are normal sized, but the females develop longer into the… Read more »