Login
Register
Comments & ID Thoughts
I think this is a Garden Orb Weaver. She lives in my kitchen. I think she has an egg sac now too. I am surprised that she can live indoors so well and reproduce! See what you think. I have named her Phyllis and I submit a picture of her eating breakfast.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Nov 18, 2018
- Photographed: Nov 19, 2018
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Brightwater, New Zealand
- Spotted Indoors: Other
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes:
I thought outdoor spiders could not survive indoors. But this female has been living in my kitchen for months now. She feeds both at night and during the day. She appears to have an egg sac now which I am
reluctant to let hatch! lol. I don’t want too many more of these spiders in my kitchen. I believe she is a garden orb weaver. But are there varieties that have adapted to live indoors? I guess so! I am new to arachnids and am anxious to learn more about these fascinating creatures!
Hello, CCC and Phyllis. There are spiders that did evolve or take advantage of human dwellings, pretty much any species whose common name starts with the word, cellar, house, or barn. Orbweavers like yours are quite content to live inside, away from predators, eating insects that come inside, like house flies, and drinking from water droplets in sinks and bathtubs. Mine wait for me to splash water when I wash my hands then they lower themselves down on a silk strand to drink. The genus of Phyllis is probably Araneus. You knew the time was coming, yes she needs to… Read more »
Hi there! I wrote a long reply and then my computer died! Anyway, I am touched that you answered! Thank you! That is the cutest that your spiders come down for a drink of water! All living things have a presence and uniqueness, don’t they? My dilemma with Phyllis is that she has already laid her eggs and/or established a nest. It is up in the hood of the oven. Good thing I am not much of a cook! What to do now? Can I move both kids and mom? And will Phyllis die soon anyway, now that she has… Read more »
Hi, I guess my responses are too long, I keep losing them before I post too! I won’t judge about the state of your oven. When ours broke I was the wise wife who didn’t replace it. My father is the opposite, he hides spiders in his workshop when Mom orders their removal. Mom doesn’t know about the Spider Sanctuary. Unfortunately Dad anthropomorphises plantsmore than I think is healthy. He gets upset if a houseplant is neglected and not given a “summer vacation” outdoors. My main volunteer work is killing invasive plants on public land. It took years to convince… Read more »
Hi TangledWeb! I know this is a public forum, but I feel like I have found a friend! lol. Yes, my computer and power, in general, keeps turning off. We are in Spring in New Zealand but right now we are having a huge downpour of both rain and hail. Not a good day to put Phyllis or brood outside! And now she is over by her nest either guarding it or? Does she lay eggs that need to be fertilized by the male or how does that work? Could she just have nothing in the nest or unfertilized eggs?… Read more »
Hey Nature Pal! Yes, the eggs need to be internally fertilized. As far as I know, spiders don’t have external fertilization or parthenogenesis. I’ll research it a bit. It is slushy here too and my internet just returned from an outage. I get annoyed when I find out that people in remote villages in Third World countries have faster and more consistent internet than I do in the middle of a city. Our physical infrastructure is the old landlines the phone companies haven’t improved in 30 years. No, the American invasive plants are frostproof. Almost all of the invasive plants… Read more »
I use Google Maps to post photos of native species in public property places to promote their beauty. I also post officially invasive species photos from those sites with an educational comment attached.
I looked it up, there are two species of spiders that may be able to reproduce through parthenogenesis, creating only female offspring. They aren’t orbweavers though. I read a 16 page scientific article about orbweaver sperm (not recommending it for vacation time casual reading!) The females can store sperm they received early in life and store it. When her eggs are ready to be deposited the sperm is activated to fertilize the eggs. The females can hold back some inactivated sperm for future eggs too. So, your spider could have been fertilized before you met her.