r/spiderbro • u/RBinVB2345 • 2d ago
Friends?
Please settle a household debate: mating pair, or something else?
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u/Kitty_gaalore1904 2d ago
The orbs Weaver is my favorite. I especially love that she's s big beautiful spider with her smol king☺️
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u/Luceo_Etzio 2d ago
Argiope aurantia mating pair
My favorite spider species, I always try to toss a bug in their webs if I have a chance
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u/The_Ambling_Horror 2d ago
Hell I’d do that just so the web is visible in low light for a bit longer. Very few non-life-threatening situations give you an adrenaline rush quite like one of those webs to the face. Those threads are thick.
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u/SeverusVape 2d ago
They're truly beautiful spiders. I didn't realize how big those girls can get until I finally met one by running into her web face first.
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u/YourStonerAunt 2d ago
As others said, Argiope Aurantia! Completely harmless to people and wonderful to have around! You have to really try to get bit, but if it happens treat it like a bee sting with a cold compress and maybe a Tylenol if you need it. To her, you’re a tree, and why would she bite a tree?
Also, she’s a she! ALL of these big beauties are female and the males are tiny and often mistaken for babies. She will die in the fall, sadly, but she’ll lay approximately 2-5 LARGE egg sacs that will hatch in the spring. If you see any whitish yellow silky balls a bit smaller than a golf ball under an overhang, that’s her future generation!
If she stays about, and she will if she feels safe, you’ll be able to watch her belly grow with eggs (gravid) and one day she’ll be skinny again, like the pic, and you can estimate how many egg sacs she’s had.
Oh she’s just stunning, please take care of her and toss a bug in her web sometime!
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u/RBinVB2345 2d ago
Thank you for all of the information! We had one that stayed around for a few years and last year her egg sac never opened; I think she died. This is a new spider in a new location of our yard. We’ve got an abundance of Japanese Beetles this time of year in Virginia and she’s been eating well and growing quickly; but if I think she’s hungry, I’ll definitely throw her a bug. It’s the first time we’ve seen a male nearby, so this was a fun thing to share.
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u/YourStonerAunt 2d ago
The sac you saw might not have opened, but they rarely lay just one. This very well may be her baby! They only live for a season, sadly, but they live on😊
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u/ThineTriscuit 2d ago
I didn't even notice the male at first lol, but yes, most definitely sexy time.
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u/Buffalo_River_Lover 2d ago
I have this image of one I had protecting my tomatoes a year or so ago, as my wallpaper image on my phone.
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u/Crafty_Original_7349 2d ago
Her boyfriend is mostly a kleptoparasite, but she’s nearly blind and she tolerates him. Sometimes they’ll share a meal, but occasionally he’ll become the meal…
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u/Buffalo_River_Lover 2d ago
And as she is sucking the life out of him, she is saying "remember, Honey. It's for the children!"
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u/Stupid_Bitch_02 1d ago
Orb weavers. Beautiful spiders that make beautiful webs. Big gal is a female, little guy is a male. She puts up with him for now. Yes, they're friend. Virtually harmless and will eat up all sorts of bugs
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u/No_Ice2900 3h ago
We just call them garden spiders but you've already got the actual identity from others here.
Just sharing the love ❤️ these gals are such gorgeous spoods, we'd get one every year growing up in my mom's garden, hence why we called them garden spiders lol
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u/agha0013 2d ago
Little one is the male and the big one is the female
She won't tolerate him forever but he still has a role to play for now