Please help :/ Unidentified Spiders..

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draculafactory West Palm Beach, FL Jul 16, 2009

Hello. My name is Jess. I am new to these forums and I need some help. I have a tree on either side of my driveway, and I've noticed that every night for the past year or so, these VERY large spiders have been making nests hanging off the trees connected to our cars. The webs are very large [I saw one tonight that had to have been 3 feet wide by 3 feet tall, maybe larger] and the spiders are of very decent size. Their entire bodies are about the size of a half dollar, legs included. Their bodys are very large and round, almost like a marble. They vary in color, mostly from yellow to dark orange. I am petrified of spiders so this is very scary to me, LOL. I don't have a picture, but was hoping if anyone was able to tell me what they think it could be and if they may be venomous. I have a young son and outdoor cats and wouldn't want either one of them running into this thing. I thought maybe they would be orb weavers, but I think that orb weavers are too small to be these spiders. Another site said they were only 2-4 cm, and these in my driveway are easily 2-3 inches. Any suggestions? draculafactory@yahoo.com

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claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Jul 16, 2009

They sound like Marbled Orbweavers, except for the size:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/2083/

These are bigger, but aren't round:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=argiope&searcher%5Bbugorder%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&Search=Search

Anyway whatever they are, they aren't likely to hurt you. Their poison will only incapacitate small insects - read the "sticky" thread about spider bites at the top of the forum.

Can you get a picture of your spiders?

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claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Jul 16, 2009

Here's another big yellow spider found in the south:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/170/

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Jul 16, 2009

Perhaps Argiopia, the chinese writting spider, banana spider, common garden spider are all part of this group and usually make huge webs.

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sallyg Anne Arundel,, MD(Zone 7b) Jul 16, 2009

On claypa's first link, the third one down, = I often get a couple of those in late summer. (who knows where they live before that) But they are big spiders and will make a web in the evening and its torn down the next morning and the thing is hiding nearby for the day.

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draculafactory West Palm Beach, FL Jul 16, 2009

I will go out tonight and see if I can get a picture. None of the links shown have pictures that look similar to this one. It's so strange. Hopefully I will be able to find one tonight! Thanks to everyone for their help so far.

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Jul 17, 2009

Draculafactory, try this link and see if any of these look like your spider.

www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/Spiders/ArgiopesUS/Argiopes_USA.html

There are some great pictures here.

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