My $.02
It looks (and by description of it's web) like what I know of as an "Orb
Web" Spider. Common enough in Northern NM and harmless (to humans)
despite the sinister (downright ugly?) look. There seem to be a *lot* of
spiders referred to as "orb web" including /Araneus gemmoides/
<http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/Pests/catspid.htm>.
The only spider I give the least pause for in this area is the obvious
and cliched black widow. I've encountered them "often enough" but have
never felt more than mildy threatened by them... they never seem to live
anywhere I want to live, though they do seem to live places I feel the
need to visit (crawlspaces, etc.) from time to time. I usually ignore
them but occasionally do the smash-and-grind-to-a-pulp thing when they
appear somewhere I don't want to run into them unexpectedly (inside the
house in particular) again.
My lack of encounters with Black Widows may be a result of my high
tolerance for /Pholcus phalangioides /(Daddy Longlegs) who are reputed
to finding black widows a special delicacy. In my current (rural) home
the only spiders I ever see are Daddy Longlegs, Orb Web/CatFaces (your
new friend), Black Widows, and what I think of as a "wolf spider" by
their behaviour and appearance, but no close inspections.
These spiders creeped me out pretty much when I first encountered them,
but now find them quite entertaining.
- Steve
Hoping there's someone on this list that knows something about
spiders in New Mexico... There were two of these hanging out just on
the outside of my house in Santa Fe. One had made a large somewhat
circular web about 2 ft across. At night it would sit in the middle,
during the day it would hide in a corner. You can get an idea of the
size from the tines of the dining fork. I think they are big. I've
not yet been successful in finding anything online that seems to come
any where close. Any ideas on what type it is, should I be worried?
Let me know if you'd like a higher res. image.
Thanks,
Robert C
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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
