#fierce orbweaver

[onenicebugperday]

(submitting these through ask bc the submission page only lets me put one pic at a time for some reason?) So I found this really cool spider on a camping trip in Waskesiu SK a few years back, and I've never been able to figure out what the heck species it is?? My closest guess is cat-faced orb weaver bc of the two yellow spikes on the abdomen? but every example of a cat-faced I've looked up has a much bigger abdomen and the "cat ears" are way less pronounced, these look almost tacked-on lmao I'm pretty sure it's SOME sort of orb-weaver at least (I remember my mum anxiously asking me whether it was a brown recluse but I Doubt That lmao)

It's absolutely an orbweaver in the genus Araneus. You can tell your mom you do not have recluses at in Canada! This friend I think is a fierce orbweaver, Araneus saevus. Their markings and coloration can be super variable but the two lil yellow shoulders are fairly common for the species.

[onenicebugperday]

@thewatereddownblog submitted: I haven't stopped thinking about a friendly visit I got from this spider the other day, it made my day for sure.

Saved this big boy who was trying to walk into the store I work at (Atlantic Canada) and sent them on their way back outside. The photos don't have scale reference but they were about the size of a ping pong ball, and definitely had prominent jaws.

I tried finding out what type of spider they were, but closest I can guess is maybe a type of wolf spider? Any input on this large friend?

Looks like it could maaaybe be a male thin-legged wolf spider, but I'd need to see the face to be sure. The eyes make it easy to ID a wolf. The body and leg shape actually remind me more of an orbweaver but especially for a male they wouldn't be that large, so I think a wolf is the most likely just given the size. Not really distinct enough to say which species otherwise, especially with such a vague location. So I dunno! Mystery man. I do love him, though :)

Update: Fierce orbweaver, Araneus saevus!

[onenicebugperday]

@faux-fae submitted: this guy scared me half to death the other day, touched my elbow and landed on my shirt while descending from the ceiling! you don't have to id if you don't want to, but if you do I'm in [removed] (and please remove the location). sorry for the kinda blurry photo, buddy took off as soon as she hit the ground and wasn't stopping for anything

You probably scared him too! They don't have very good eyesight, so suddenly he was on top of a big scary predator. I'd run away, too. Anyway it's a bit blurry but mayyyybe a fierce orbweaver based on what I can see of the markings, specifically the little white one at the front of the abdomen :)

[onenicebugperday]

@lasagnedegarce​ submitted: Found a very large spider (for my area at least) just sort of casually ambling down the sidewalk. Looks like maybe a Nordmann's orbweaver from what I could see on iNaturalist, I'm in Alaska if you want to ID it though.

+ bonus grasshopper, the color reminded me of rhubarb!

Two wonderful pals! The spider looks more like a fierce orbweaver, Araneus saevus, to me. They both have those sorta pointy protrusions on the corners of their abdomen, and they’re in the same genus, but Nordman’s orbweaver tends to have a lot more white coloring - but not always, so it still could be a very dark Nordman’s! Interestingly, though, when you look at photos of fierce orbweavers on iNat, there are a ton of photos of them just...running across the ground. Which is not generally normal behavior for an orbweaver, but I wasn’t able to find why the heck they’re doing it. Maybe they’re just super into jogging.

Anyway, love the rhubarb-colored grasshopper, too! Can’t tell what species it is from that photo but I can tell you it’s a very nice bug. :)