CLOSED: Our backdoor guest is a little creepy!

Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

Hi all this is our first post,
We are in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Me and my 10 year old son are curious about this spider. He is living in the corner of our sliding glass door. We walk the long way around so we don't disturb him. No one wants to walk under his web anyway (he is a little creepy---But beautiful). He just finish making his web for the evening and is probably exhausted. We don't have many dangerous spiders in New Jersey. I learned we have Brown recluse (I looked for the fiddle shape on it's head but didn't see anything close to any markings and I couldn't see it's eyes close enough to see if it had three pair.) We also have black widow, hobo, and funnel spiders. None of those fit. We also looked at many other spiders and we can't seem to find one except possibly the "red spider" from Virginia. The spider is about the size of a half-dollar (arms and all). and the back seems to be furry--not like the rest of the body. I thought he may be vacationing "Down the Shore" . My son, Logan, took the Photo of his underside and is most concerned if it is a dangerous spider. I thought he did a great job since we had to use flash and a glass door between us.
We hope you can help us!
Vicki and Logan Carter

Thumbnail by vickifromjersey
Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

Here is a front view. you can see it's color is red/orange and brown stripes.

Thumbnail by vickifromjersey
Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

And one last view.

Thumbnail by vickifromjersey
Sinks Grove, WV

This spider is a harmless orb weaver (family Araneidae); see http://tinyurl.com/phrpzj for some examples. BTW, recluse spiders are not endemic to New Jersey (although occasional imported strays could occur), and they do not spin webs.

West Palm Beach, FL

This does look like an orb spider they can weave a 6' web and are not harmful to humans

You might want to check the web page below for pictures and info on spiders, your son might like looking tells you all you need to know.

http://www.termite.com/spider-identification.html

Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

Thank you for all your help. We continue to watch him/her grow everyday. He takes down and rebuilds his web everyday. We wonder how big he will get and how long he will stay.

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