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Comments & ID Thoughts
Probably an orb-weaver spider, species unknown. Size of a quarter. All tan except for a mostly-purple/some-yellow elongation under abdomen. Legs dark/light striped. Made web in ceiling/wall corner of my outdoor covered deck all summer. Survived until November 12 when the temperature dropped to 23 deg overnight. Was dangling motionless from a strand of web this morning, and was dead on the deck floor this afternoon. Photo of abdomen is also available.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Nov 12, 2018
- Photographed: Nov 12, 2018
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: LINCOLN, New Hampshire, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: Man-made structure (building wall, fences, etc.)
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes:
Im sorry for your loss. I’m impressed that an orbweaver lived so long in Lincoln. My porch orbweavers in Nashua died a few weeks ago. I checked on them every day. I think they were the same species as yours. Yes, a photo of the dorsal surface of the abdomen is needed for an ID. Please put a note in the comments that it is the dorsal view of photo 48214.
I need to recover my better photos of the orb-weaver spider (both sides) that I sent to a friend. The one that I posted at 48214 is not very good. How do I post two photos of the same spider ?
Using Google Photos or a photo app of your choice you can make a collage of them that counts as one photo to websites. It works well, no loss of clarity or distortion though Google may crop the photos to form a square end product. It isn’t permanent, Google keeps the original copy for you. You can rotate and crop the individual photos yourself and try again until you get what you want. This site would crop it square if Google didn’t, anyhow. On Google Photos select “collage” at the top before the photos, the opposite doesn’t work. That’s the… Read more »
Posted another photo of my spider at #48686 on Nov 18, showing the pronounced “ears” on topside of abdomen.
Posted the underside at #48690 on Nov 18, showing the elongated purple marking with small yellow bars on each side.
Hope these photos will be clear enough for you to identify the species. Thanks for your comments.
PS — The solitary life and death of a spider is rather sad — don’t believe she even mated, no egg cases left behind.
Philosophically, it is thought scientifically that the shorter the life span of a species, the slower their perception of time is. That is why it is hard for us to swat house flies. They have more time in their perception to navigate around our slow movements. Its like in a sci-fi film where time stops or slows for everyone but the main character who has time to move through the scene changing things. This applies to our pets too. It seems sad that they have a short lifespan compared to us, but it is in slower perceived time for them.… Read more »
Your essay was enlightening, never thought about the difference in perception of time, your theory of “natural relativity”. I am 68 years old and proud to say I have never killed a spider. When they crawl around on the indoor carpet, I catch them with a dixie cup and index card. Relocate them to a safe place under the frig or in the water heater closet. Or put them outside in the summer. Looking at the topside photo of my spider that I posted today, she looks very much like a cat when viewed from the rear. The two protrusions… Read more »
Message to TangledWeb I have concluded that my spider (above) is a cat-faced orb-weaver. If you go to my profile and tap pictures, you can see all three views. The other topside view shows the cat face very clearly. The species can vary in color and shape, but there is one in google images that matches mine perfectly. Here is my email address if you want to correspond about spiders or life in general. This website’s comment section isn’t very convenient for longer and more frequent conversations. Typing/editing is awkward and it can time-out before you finish your comment. LEON… Read more »