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Help identify this spider
They are quiet big and come out by night. I asked the locals about it, but they couldn’t tell me a name nor if it’s actually harmful to humans. All they said was: don’t touch it.
It’s possible that the locals were playing with you. I have a relative from southern Florida who had never been in snow until he served in the Army. There were no toilet facilities where they were stationed in Germany and it was winter. That meant pooping in the snow at night. Someone thought a great prank would be to tell him to bring a shovel if he had to go. He might need it to kill a deadly white “snow snake” that might slither up and bite his bare butt in the dark. He fell for it and always pooped… Read more »
Haha, could possibly be that they play a prank, although I had more the feeling they don’t care. They don’t use that toilet at night and just told me if I want to use it, just not touching the spiders.
I poked one a bit with a stick and she was not aggressive at all. I had more the feeling she just wanted to be left alone. (What I totally understand). But my point is, i had the impression she didn’t tried to bite the stick.
Fast look I see Araneus diadematus, cross orb weaver. If I see the palps right, a male.
They are very harmless, very reluctant to bite. If they must be handled, they can, but I suggest leaving them undisturbed if they are out of the way.
You may find this nestled in a corner,crack, sometimes a curled leaf during the day, sort of hunkered down.
Usually near the web, unless it is one to eat its web before hiding out for the day.
Araneus diadematus isn’t listed as having a major range in China in the World Spider Catalog. There are a lot of other Araneus species listed for China. My tip on this is to use Wikipedia to search the genus then go the the Species part of the article where all of the species are listed with their primary ranges according to the WSC. The species names in blue have an article or stub on Wikipedia. The ones in red need someone to create articles for them. 🙂
Good idea, I’ll have a look there. Although I’m not experienced in distinguish spider species.. haha
True, but they are a cosmopolitan species,and best I can do with this is suggestions. You look at Araneia distributions, seems most of Asia has most of the fauna, many, only found in Asia or China. Can pass for a male furrow spider too for what I see. I did regain access to my university entomology database, and anything in WSC will be there. Highly upgraded since I used it last so still learning to navigate it. IE: enter a species it can show a global map of observations,,OR, enter a region, it can list all observed species found with… Read more »
Just follow up re: wikipedia. My observation is that although a decent site,much data is obsolete or incomplete. Respectably accurate otherwise and do sometimes resort for quick reference. It does cite references for further digging.
Good suggestion,TNX.
Thanks for the follow up. I’m only recommending the part where someone bothered to summarize the most recent World Spider Catalog species listings under each genus on Wikipedia. The ranges are listed next to each species name. You can easily scan them to find the species that are predominantly in a certain area. It’s the Catalog’s data, but easier to search for species in a certain area.
Hi BugnanDan,
Thanks for your help. The one in the photo is indeed a smaller one, but the best photo I was able to make, since the bigger once already disappeared in the morning.
The eating their web thing, explains why I found almost no evidence of them in the morning.
I was a bit suspicious since they like to hang out in the area where people have to go, but it seems they are okay and not aggressiv against humans.
They frequent my porch often near walkways and may startle those skittish with spiders. I often sit on the porch watching them, sometimes even playing with or feeding them. You can drive them nuts attracting flying insects to the web with a flashlight, or very gently touch their bum and they shake their web. Best part is at dusk they come out of their hide and make those fancy webs, better than watching TV. Never heard of aggression from any orb weavers unless you are a bug. A video on the back burner is how to keep these spiders indoors… Read more »
What I can say about the climate here: it’s mountainous, very dry and extreme in summer and winter. Mostly sandy landscape with some vegetation. So what I read about the furrow spider might not match since they like it moist.
You are much correct, sorry if I am being confusing. The only way I cold narrow this down is going through the big list of orb weavers in your area then finding a suitable match, a few days work for me. Perhaps another member can give faster response and peg this for you.
No need to go through all that work. I’m very thankful already for your expertise. I’m mostly curious what’s living around me and was looking for some assurance that this one is actually not very dangerous to humans if it bites. Now i feel more confident using the outside bathroom at night 🙂
Just be aware of its presence so you don’t walk through her web in the dark and no worries.