Orb weaver.

[Gregg M]

These are all over the place where I live. And they are huge. I have had the displeasure of walking into their webs more times than I care to. Good thing they are not aggressive and bitey. However, no matter how many times I have done the "just walked into a spider web" dance, I am still facinated by arachnids and really like to photograph them.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6100/6320312129_d555412409_b.jpg

[Hurrok]

That's a pretty intense picture. Luckily I don't get freaked out by spiders too much unless they get on me...

The "just walked into a spider web" dance happens a lot here in the spring for me, dang webs are everywhere! :P

[Trent]

Awesome pic!

[CDN_Blood]

We have similar things up here, but I'm totally OK with them. They're just so big and colourful. Here's one I snapped last summer on the patio - someone thought it was a type of Orb Weaver, but I'm not so sure...

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Around%20Home/file.jpg

[Caylan]

Both amazing spiders! When I was camping last year I found a bunch of spiderlings just hatched. I supposed they were orb weavers but I never did find an adult. Think these could be orb weavers too?http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww355/Inugohan/Misc/IMG_1172.jpg
Also, regarding gregs spider. We have spiders called pumpkin spiders that look very similar to yours, growing an abdomen around the diameter of a toonie. People out here mistake them for tarantula's lol. They make massive webs that are just amazing, and then sit in the middle, or in a corner. Fascinating spiders, I love them, but not easy to find... everyone I do find gets picked off by a bird eventually... Spiders really are great to photograph.

[BarelyBreathing]

All great pictures.

[marvelfreak]

Wow some sweet looking spiders.

[jarich]

Awesome pictures, but that one you have of the young spiders Caylan, thats just crazy

[Caylan]

Thanks! By the end of the day they were everywhere, the next day all gone. Very weird, perfect timing I guess.

[DragonsEye]

Very colorful orb, Greg. And, yes, that's an orb weaver, Todd. :),

[stephanbakir]

Caylan, if I'm not mistaken, yours are Garden Spiders. As they molt they get an awesome face on their backs.
http://satellitecrash.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Garden-Spider.jpg

Their webs always have that crisscross in them so they are easy to identify.

[jaleely]

BLAH you know i have tarantulas, but when they are small they easily creep me out. That pick of all the crawly babies...BLAAAAH!
I just imagine them running and crawling all over me in a swarm! BLAAAAHHHH! I'm afraid of ants, though, so that's where that comes from. I'm not afraid of spiders, but just all those tiny things billowing out....BLECK!!!

[stephanbakir]

Ants are awesome, especially when you can get em to work for you! I made money off ants for 6 months while I was vacationing in Daytona Beach FL. Between them, shrimp mullet and fiddler crabs, the trip payed for itself.

[jaleely]

Shrimp mullet?? lol

And i really hate ants *lol*

[stephanbakir]

Shrimp are... shrimp and mullet is a type of fish. I collected shrimp when i got hungry, caught extras and sold them to baitshops, I made passive colony traps for the fiddlers and just picked them up in the evenings and sold them to bait shops, the mullet were caught using a cast net when my family got tired of surfing and either sold to bait shops or used myself as bait for larger fish that we ate and the fire-ants dont bite me for some reason, so i used them to clean out shells that i had intended to keep as souvenirs but ended up selling to a girl who wanted them all for resale. Spent an hour or two a day on it and ended up almost breaking even on the trip. We payed for a handful of meals on the trip and had a great time.

[nokturnelle]

Orb weavers are awesome. The species down where I live is called Nephila clavipes, the golden orb weaver. I've seen webs spanned over seven feet wide before, I swear. And their webs are made of the strongest natural substance ever found! Even stronger than kevlar!

[brandonh]

Caylan, if I'm not mistaken, yours are Garden Spiders. As they molt they get an awesome face on their backs.
http://satellitecrash.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Garden-Spider.jpg

Their webs always have that crisscross in them so they are easy to identify.

i wonder is the size difference has to do with the sex of the spider ?

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/Brandon1001_photos/SAM_0293.jpg

[nokturnelle]

i wonder is the size difference has to do with the sex of the spider ?

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/Brandon1001_photos/SAM_0293.jpg

It does. These are all female. The males are wimpy little brown guys that are a tenth of their size lol. They wander, unlike the females that make webs. I don't know the exact species this one is...but I know that she's from the genus Argiope. So yeah, in the spider world, girls rule!!

[brandonh]

lol thanks for the info and a laugh this morning :D

[bladeblaster]

I would love to keep an orb weaver :)

[hellosugaree]

We've all done the dance many times :D