What kind of spider is this?

[dragonsdaddy]

my outdoor shower has supported a big ole goodun that has already laid 2 egg sacs so the species is ensured for the future.

[kmlj9491]

Banana spider. Poke the Web with a stick and they'll bounce forever. Kinda funny. When you're bored with that, catch a grasshopper and throw it on the web. That's fun to watch too

[Target-panic]

Golden Silk Orb-Weavers make great airsoft pistol targets.

There are many types of Orb-weavers the Yellow-Black Garden Spider are something different.

[Northeaster]

Wish I had a hundred around my house

[SaltwaterSlick]

garden spider:

banana spider:

Thank you Leon for clearing that up! What we have jillions of this year over in Liberty County (More than I think I've ever seen) are those "banana spiders"... I always called them those "BIG Thicket spiders"! Their yellow web is about as strong a fiber as I've ever seen in s spider web.

My dad used to caution me when squirrel hunting don't shoot thru the web as it will catch all the shot and cause you to miss the squirrel... Seriously though, you can roll several strands of it together and it is pretty difficult to break by hand AND it's STICKY... hate those things!

Though similar, the banana spiders are the ones that build the huge webs right in the middle of your walking/4-wheeler trails. They won't hurt ya, but they'll for sure make you hurt yourself! I did battle with a bunch of them Saturday.

[dirt dauber]

I've dang near killed myself trying to get out from under these _astards!!! I HATE SPIDERS friendly or not.

[gsxrmike]

Golden Garden Spider. Also known as the Argiope. Scientific name Argiope Aurantia.
Good catcher of insects.
Not to be confused with the Yellow Sac spider whose bite causes a necrotic lesion like a Brown Recluse.

[CaptainDave]

Banana spider - they have a good way of being at eye level when your riding trough the lease. Hate running through them and getting them on you.

This.

We have them in SE Texas. Some years they are flat out thick in mid to late summer. Other years, there's just not as many. Not sure exactly why. They do have a bad habit of making webs right at eye level and will scare the crap out of you if you catch one right in the face.

Also, they have been known to turn me into a ninja warrior when walking to the blind in the dark. Again, webs are typically built across pathways and openings.

I will say this though, for the life of me, I can't ever remember being bitten by one.

[HC Sniper]

Argiope. Make a big web with a Z pattern in the middle. Kept one in my classroom one year. Students really enjoyed watching it work. Throw a grasshopper on it's web and watch it reach back with a pair of legs and pull multiple strands of silk out of it's spinnerets. It will spin that grasshopper and wrap it up neat as a present. Next morning you will find what is left on the ground below the web. You can put your hand close to the web and it will start bouncing the web all over the place. Defensive mechanism, but very cool to see.

[Peta-hata]

Spent many a summer evening feeding grass hoppers to those when I was growing up. They had webs in the eves on our house. I don't see em much any more. They can turn a grasshopper into a mummy in about 30 seconds flat!!

[kmlj9491]

Here's a video of the banana spider at my house. Fed him a grasshopper yesterday.

http://youtu.be/baaGI9YFcy4

[BigThicketBoy]

Apparently make men sissies spider lol

[MadHatter]

Garden Spider is what we call them as well. Can give you a pretty painful bite too! I have them at my house and feed them every day when I get home.

Really? I've been catching them since I was a kid :-). I know they could bite you but they are like tarantulas in my opinion. Unless you squeeze them or try and pull their legs off or something I don't think they will bite.

[W-O]

They will bite. I had one in the tomato rows a few years ago and when I picked tomatoes I would drive/throw grass hoppers in the web but made sure to leave the spider and web intact as I picked tomatoes. One day I was picking tomatoes and the spider left it's web, went down on the ground walked over and bit me on the ankle then climbed back up on it's web. I guess I hadn't "fed" it and it was reminding me of feeding time. It didn't really hurt or swell up and I didn't kill the spider. I just said some not so nice things to him and wasn't as careful of the web after that. Bite me and you have to work a little harder.

[tigerscowboy]

Don't believe it's a Banana, but maybe the pic lacked too much detail.

Looks like a big ol creepy Garden that makes a lot of men ruin their shorts. I learned long ago that the big ones were less to worry about.

The browns that get in your gloves while working in the field/yard are worth the fear.

It burns and burns.