Steve Smith wrote: > 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.
We leave pretty much all of them alone - and we have very few other insects. Oh, the moths get annoying but the spiders get 'em. What creeps me out are the centipedes - especially the multi-inch size. Their bites are painful and cause infections. My wife carefully preserved a female wolf spider that grew to be as big as a small tarantula. Lots of baby wolfies. -- Ray Parks rcpa...@sandia.gov Consilient Heuristician Voice: 505-844-4024 ATA Department Mobile: 505-238-9359 http://www.sandia.gov/scada Fax: 505-844-9641 http://www.sandia.gov/idart Pager:505-951-6084 ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
