I found this spider on my back porch. I live in NY. I caught it and put it in a jar for my kids and husband to see and within an hour or so it had spud some white creamy looking stuff out and looked like she died.
Any idea of what kind of spider this is? Half of the leg is red and the bottom half is black and white. She was more hairy then not. Thanks for your help.
It looks like your spider could be an orb weaver in the genus Neoscona, possibly Neoscona crucifera. See http://bugguide.net/node/view/333652/bgpage for another image. I'm not sure what might have been happening in your description of it's death. Maybe someone else with more knowledge can provide insight.
It's possible that she might have made her egg sac and died because it took so much energy to make the sac. This is just a speculation since spiders aren't my specialty but I have noticed MANY moths do this and it wouldn't take long after they laid the eggs.
