Need help identifying a spider

Overlord

This was outside me and my bros trailer. Used a lighter for light and got a pic. Anyone have any idea what kind it is, and if its dangerous or anything?

mrcheesypants

Where do you live? I don't know a lot about spiders, but this is probably useful information.

Overlord

Alberta, Canada, near Edmonton.

emp123

That thing is fucking terrifying. Either kill the mother fucker or catch it (glass cup maybe?) and throw it the fuck outside.

Sadly, I dont have a clue as to what type of spider it is, but seriously, get that the fuck away from you.

Raneados

how big is it?

if I had to guess, it'd probably be a tetragnathidae

it's not poisonous, by the looks of it

Raneados

might also be a female hobo spider

Overlord

It was about the size of a quarter. It was already outside on the siding. My bro threw a bottle at it and its gone for now.

Raneados

is that with the legs or just the body?

in any case

if you see it again, and you REALLY want it gone

you can

1) insecticide it to death
2) step on it
3) or if you want it alive and gone, get a clear jar, trap it, release a thousand meters away

Overlord

Yeah it was the size of a quarter with legs. If i see it again I'll try and put it in a jar so I can get more pics.

PorkChopSandwiches

What was the web like?

Disturbed_1

It looks like a tiny jumping spider but its hard to tell need more info and a location.

Overlord

It was on the siding of my trailer outside. It didnt seem to have any unusual web, before I goto work today I'll see if its back and what its web was like.

Fawkes

Raneados wrote: »

how big is it?

if I had to guess, it'd probably be a tetragnathidae

it's not poisonous, by the looks of it

If you had to guess, you'd guess it was a spider whose distinctive features are elongated legs (not present), large elongated jaws (not present), and of which most species live in swampy / tropical conditions (er, outside a house, in Canada...).

Let's not even mention that your other guess (hobo spider, surprise, I was gunning for someone coming up with either that or brown recluse) looks nothing like a tetragnathidae, and just skip straight to: no, it's not a hobo spider, the easiest way of telling which is that it has dark ringed leg joints. Hobo spiders have uniformly coloured legs. They also look nothing like that, are much larger, and don't tend to hang around on there silk like that one is doing. Honestly, why can't some people just stfu when they don't have a clue?

Disturbed - also not a jumping spider (though much better guess), legs are too thin / large in proportion to body.

Quite hard to be at all sure, but smart money would be on your average garden standard common orb spider. Correct time of year, correct behaviour, correct size & shape (translucent legs with bands also a big giveaway). There is probably a circular web around somewhere with it somewhere off to the side. It is totally harmless. About the most danger an orb spider poses to you is walking into it's web at night and getting one crawling across your face, that can give you a nice little aneuresm and/or lifelong wariness of spiders (I know, because it happened to me - laff!).

Also, what it certainly isn't is any of the usual dangerous / poisonous spiders in your area. Those are either widows (look like orb spiders but significantly different markings), or a variety of recluse / hobo / funnel spiders (all totally different to that one).

PS Found this for you: http://www.pestcontrolcanada.com/Questions/spider_identification.htm

Interesting enough in itself, but if you look halfway down the page to where it gives pictures of various orb spiders, I think you have your answer.

Bliss 101

Yeah, orb spider. We have zillions of those around our summer house: the biggest females get maybe two thirds of an inch long (including legs) over here. I kinda like them because of their beautiful webs and the fact that they capture and eat all kinds of annoying flying bugs pretty effectively, including my hated enemies, wasps.

My uncle claims to have been bitten by one of those as a kid, says the effects were pretty much equivalent to a wasp sting, only with less swelling. He was holding the spider in his fist though. I doubt they'll bite unless you go out of your way to harass them; besides my uncle, I've never heard of anyone else being bitten by one.

PorkChopSandwiches

On a more disturbing note, I've had to kill four black widows around my house in the last few days.

I don't mind disposing of black widows, but my wife demands that I get rid of any spider that she comes in contact with. Usually when I find one I try to relocate it. I especially hate killing any spiders that put up those big beautiful webs.

Pheezer

PorkChopSandwiches wrote: »

On a more disturbing note, I've had to kill four black widows around my house in the last few days.

I don't mind disposing of black widows, but my wife demands that I get rid of any spider that she comes in contact with. Usually when I find one I try to relocate it. I especially hate killing any spiders that put up those big beautiful webs.

This really isn't a chat forum and you're really providing neither help nor advice here. If you want to chat about spiders, go make a thread in D&D or SE.