Banana Spider vs. Garden Spider: How To Spot The Difference!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Okay I was planning to feature a snake in todays video, but then when I went herping I accidentally found cool spiders so now here we are. Hope you don't mind too much and I promise you'll actually get a snake feature in the next episode. See you then!

[@theresagreene7234]

Enjoyed it, Ben ! Plenty of spiders around us and nice to find out about them ! Thanks !

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

@@theresagreene7234 Thank you, glad you enjoyed!

[@matthewp3049]

Enjoyed this episode! Informative and now can tell the difference between the two. Loved the analogy, "...drain out the insides of the insect like a little smoothie".

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

@@matthewp3049 Thanks Matthew, it is one of my favorite spider analogies haha

[@raterus]

I live in eastern NC in the woods, and had a massive fly problem around our home early summer due to raising meat chickens. One of each of these spiders moved in outside our back door, and our fly problem ended! :-) They've been hanging out there for months and are huge, and we just leave them alone and let them do their thing. Also one thing to note, is the smaller spiders you see in the webs are the males.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Glad that you're coexisting with your new roommate, they definitely are insect-eating machines! Yeah this was the first time I'd observed males of either species before...I assume because they'd been eaten already in other encounters haha

[@srqlisa7881]

I had a big web that I left on my deck and only one mosquito bit.

[@juliemcdonald1245]

@@TheWildReportOfficial right?, like aren't the males afraid of the females for fear of being eaten? spiders are so cool.

[@MyWildBackyard]

Love it! Great little highlight of two of my favorite orb weavers!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Thanks Spencer, glad we both decided to give the orb weavers some love recently. They're just so cool!

[@arottie4097]

Their webs are crazy strong! I've had two occasions this summer where i've had to free a hummingbird from their webs! Here in Atlanta Ga these ladies thrive. I have had a few territorial disputes when they start building webs in my fig tree! Ha!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

They really are, in fact they have a higher tensile strength than steel!

[@Butteredsausage177]

There's a golden orb weaving spider with 3 males in my backyard. I want to hold it so bad, but at the same time, my brain is telling me no.

[@jorasparents]

I love, love, love this channel, and when this young man holds these spiders, they almost -- ALMOST -- look cute. But they still make me feel nauseous. And if I walked into one of those webs, I really believe I'd have a heart attack.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Thanks so much for the kind words. I would argue that they *are* cute, all you need is to hold one for the first time and you'll be convinced!

[@justinjacobs1501]

I appreciate how polite Garden Spiders are when they make their large warning stripe on their webs. I don't get web on my face, and they get to keep their web in one piece. Everyone wins.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

For sure, they are such polite spiders!

[@claressalucas8922]

I have always DETESTED spiders! Your reaction to catching that golden silk spider almost made me reconsider my position. Almost.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Hey that's awesome, they really aren't hard to handle!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

@@Ferro_Equus I just looked up a picture of one and holy cow they are beautiful!

[@iyeste]

"Drinks the insect like a smoothie...." I'll never look at my smoothies the same way, sigh...

[@popahtrj]

saw one of these when i was five near my aunts house and i was TERRIFIED. now i can and will pick these up.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

That's awesome, so glad you are overcoming your fears!

[@xthee_0nly_1x11]

I know most spiders are pretty reluctant to bite, but have you ever had a spider unexpectedly bite you after handling it?

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

I have not (yet), but Spencer had that happen to him once so it can happen, just rarely.

[@g_rr_tt]

walking through the woods in shorts is a good way to get ticks

[@blackie1of4]

I was on vacation last week in the Outer Banks and came across a few Garden Spiders! They're extremely beautiful ❤️ I was on the lookout for anything creeping or crawling! Caught a bunch of fiddler crabs.. the grandkids loved them! We'd head down to the beach once the sun went down with nets buckets and flashlights.. a lot of fun 😊 That being said.. my favorite capture was a Eastern Glass Lizard! So docile and well behaved!!! It was an educational opportunity for the grandkids ❤️ It didn't matter how many times I told them that it was a legless lizard.. they kept talking about the snake 🐍 It was too hot last week for critters during daylight! Evening and night time is the best time.. unless it's raining! I usually have the BEST luck right after a storm 😊 Thanks for sharing this Ben.. I love ALL animals.. except mosquitos ticks and leaches!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Oh cool, this is such a beautiful time of year to be on the coast. Nice work on the glass lizard catch, they can be hard to snag but I do love catching them to show the differences between snakes and lizards haha

[@blackie1of4]

@@TheWildReportOfficial I got lucky with this one! He was in a little depression that had a board blocking his exit! It was in hunt mode.. and one of the grandkids yelled.. SNAKE! I happened to be two steps behind them :)

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

@@blackie1of4 Haha that's fantastic

[@kiapandora2094]

love your videos. greetings from Burnsville NC

[@ianb1505]

I called them both banana spiders. I figured they were different species of the same genus or something. I grew up in Louisiana and saw the garden spiders more around our house and the golden silk spiders more in the woods. I have seen some HUGE garden spiders (5-6” diameter with legs) easily as big as the golden silk spiders

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

I'd love to see a garden spider that big, I think both of these species are fascinating!

[@froggluver]

Spiders with leg warmers is about the cutest thing I've seen all day! :) I live in western/central NC, and see black and yellows all the time, but I have never seen a golden silk. Hoping to see one next time I go east.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Haha it is pretty adorable, this is definitely the time of year to see them!

[@Leon1982db]

I have many different spider species in my yard where we have a lot of woods and trees. I try to avoid thier webs and even have a few that I visit each time I go outside. I always miss them in the winter.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

That's fun, it's always cool to see them spinning webs in the morning too!

[@StephenMacdonald-s7v]

i live in canada. i found one that had a white underbelly and yellow and black back with the narrow style but. it looked like a smaller version of those big banna spiders was about the size of a garden spider. nice looking

[@Grincheypoo]

Totally adore spiders, graden spiders are my favorite!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

They are so beautiful!

[@jamiebaldwin1043]

Really enjoy these videos.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Glad to hear that!

[@smetlogik]

Nice comparison, Ben. Those golden silks sure are pretty. Curious about what the source is of the range map shown at 4:32?

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Thanks Rob! Yeah it's from this publication in SE Naturalist: www.researchgate.net/publication/262567444_Nephila_clavipes_Araneae_Nephilidae_A_Model_Species_for_Monitoring_Climate_Change_in_the_Southeastern_United_States

[@smetlogik]

@@TheWildReportOfficial Thank you!

[@50STATEKING333]

I’m in Memphis the garden spider is my backyard right now and it is BIG

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Haha yup they can get huge

[@txrancher47]

Thx!

[@GoobsNYC]

This content is really well made. I'm glad I found it bro

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Glad you enjoy it, welcome to the channel!

[@jorospiderappreciation]

People mistake these for the Joro spider as well. Great video!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Thank you! Yes, I want to film a Joro this year!

[@blkhrt3922]

You should’ve added the “Joro” spider Trichonephila clavata. It is very similar to the two and in similar territory.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

I would love to film one soon!

[@AntLab]

Nice! Those are some great spiders!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Thanks Dr. Smith, now it's time to go find some big Dolomedes!

[@TheWildlifeBrothers]

I didn’t realize that NC gets golden silk orb weavers, that is super cool! Argiopes are among my favorite North American spiders, and the same is true of the golden silk spiders as well. They’re definitely easy to confuse, and this video was a great little comparison that I think people will find very useful. Great work as always!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Yeah they don't get any further North than us (yet). Definitely glad we have them, big yellow spiders are just fun to work with and I think a great way to introduce people to the ecological benefits of spiders.

[@amberbugge9006]

Help Ben!! I live in South Texas. I had a beautiful black and yellow garden spider on our from porch. I went to check on her since it’s so cold!! She had fell off the web and was lying half dead on the concrete!!! I brought her inside to warm her up. How can I help her!?!?

[@metalhead9397]

Ahhhhhh orbweaver spiders gotta love them during land nav

[@jordancroft9961]

I'm pretty sure we have them here in Florida I was under the impression that they bit that's cool that they don't

[@BeyondThisAfterlife]

I live in Louisiana and the Golden Boys are everywhere

[@CWRU]

We had an Argiope that size by our barn in West Virginia. I also saw some of that size when I was out at Fort Sill years ago. They were so big that there colors literally startedd wasing out. Thank you for the fascinating report

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Wow, those must have been huge! Glad you enjoyed.

[@tkreitler]

Spiders are very cool and, like snakes, so misunderstood. It is so hard to tell a species from a silhouette. It looks to be venomous from the head shape but that could just be a defensive posture from a non-venous, like perhaps a nerodia. Then again, it looks to have a slightly upturned snout so it could be a hognose. I'm guessing the next species is a Cottonmouth- final answer.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Yeah very true! You might be onto something with your guess, definitely looking for the right ID features.

[@bowiegirl5662]

You're CRAZY to touch them. I'd simply die if that thing touched me!

[@bob-cat]

Mid to late summer best time to find them too.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Yep, it's when the females are at maximum size!

[@annjones3672]

That looks like a Copperhead snake! I heard that they like to burrow in pine straw? Great and informative video! As usual!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Haha you might be onto something there. Thank you for the kind words!

[@ziplockzanefn8778]

i wanna see the reaction to the person walking past

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

That could be an entire video - just compilations of people staring at me while I film. I actually caught it on camera in my most recent episode!

[@B_COOPER]

One of these beauts set up shop on my porch one day. To say I was excited was an understatement, mind you i will almost always jump outta my skin when a spider is tip toeing their way towards me. To make a long story short, a rainstorm had spent the entire day and night pouring and when to check on her and she was just holding onto what was left of her web. But she was alive and looked like she will see another day. The next morning as I’m walking out of my house…. I was probably an inch away from being face palmed by the last thing I want on my face at 6 am…. I had to get to work and was running behind so I gently gave her a push with a broom, more of a tap even. I have no idea what happened to her after that because spiders just vanish.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

That's so cool, love when they set up their homes around ours. Glad you didn't get face palmed though haha

[@slowpoke4557]

South Central area of NC here, I love finding the writing spider, just not unexpectedly running into a web though lol. Never have seen the other one here though

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Yeah the webbing is not easy to remove once you are entangled, but it's a worthy trade off for the reduced mosquito nuisance in my opinion.

[@biff5856]

I tried to make a pet out of a large beautiful garden spider that had an enormous web on my porch. I would catch flies a flick them into her web. She would get them and bring them to the central area of the web and devour them. One day she just packed up and left.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

I think everyone deserves a porch garden spider at some point in their life.

[@Isabella-xe1bh]

I wonder if they mind being held 😢 they look so stunning, it's amazing that they're harmless to people

[@ericgilliam9902]

Come to North Georgia, especially around Buford to Gainesville! We have an invasive spider called the Joro Spider, they are everywhere and making a mess of things because they reproduce at a high rate! They make giant 3-D layers webs and they are strong! They look between a cross of the banana spider and the garden spider! Researchers say they came from shipping containers from Asia! They love trees and power lines! They look real creepy at night!

[@jacoblott1617]

I wonder if they're as friendly to humans as the garden and banana spiders in this video are

[@goatcheese4me]

With snakes, you can usually tell when they're about to strike. How do you handle spiders and know they won't bite? I'd be freaked out about letting a spider roam on my hands/arms.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

It is a little bit trickier, for me I typically pay attention to how willing they are to freely crawl around vs. tensing up or running around. It's also species specific though, just like snakes!

[@DesertNebula]

👀💫 I would faint They look really cool tho

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

They are cool!

[@Isaac-px1jx]

I am hatching an egg sac the black and yellow garden spider!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

No way, I bet it's gonna be so fun to watch them hatch!

[@billbolton7108]

What about the other spider the invasive species from Asia

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

I haven't found one yet, but I'll try to this season!

[@closj6735]

Fucccccc That !!! Bite or No Bite 😮

[@dinorage8619]

I am still lost ... you mentioned to show a Banana spider however you only shown the difference between a garden spider and an Orb spider ... are you saying an orb spider is a Banana Spider?

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Golden orb weavers are often called Banana spiders here in the South, but they are different from the Phoneutria which are also called banana spiders. This is why scientific names are a thing.

[@srqlisa7881]

Lovely looking ladies. Do they also kill the males? Thanks

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

They are beautiful! Yes, typically the males do not survive even a single breeding season.

[@slowpoke4557]

​@@TheWildReportOfficial😢

[@butterieflie]

Just wait until the Joro spider makes its way up there. 😑

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Yup I'm waiting for it

[@johnholmes6897]

Spiders do not come in all shapes. Spiders tend to look like, spiders

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

But also look at the difference between let's say a tetrognathid and a spiny-backed orb weaver!

[@TheibexEmpress]

Your dope 😮

[@оғғісе]

Utah

[@Face-ofboxing]

Im watching this video on mute. Long story. Is he picking up wild spiders without getting bit? What in the hell

[@JudeTavonFenwick]

I must admit, I don’t care which one it is, I just don’t want it near me