Orb Weaver Spiders: Everything You Need To Know!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

🎃Happy Halloween, Explorers! 🕷 Sorry for the delay in getting this episode out to you, I've been absolutely slammed with school and had to deal with a serious emergency situation during a field lab this week so have been mentally drained. The good news is the weather recently has also been GREAT for wildlife, and I've been using every shred of my free time to try and film some amazing animals to feature here on the channel. Thanks for your continued support of my content, stay curious and keep adventuring everywhere! -Ben Zino

[@RichardAStonemasonNOTfreemason]

Cheers Ben. Very much appreciate your sharing and caring. Happy Halloween. if there is such a thing..

[@prideaaron5128]

How often do they bite you when you try to get one to crawl on you?

[@AkumaAkumu]

That was awesome! Its all thanks to you that I was able to get over my arachnophobia and start letting spiders in my apartment where we were having a hard time with roaches! Now we have very few roaches ever pop up and our flat mates (wolf spiders, cellar spiders, and some Spotted Orb Weavers) are all welcome and never bother us 😁 🕷️

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

That's great to hear, glad you've found peaceful coexistence with your spider roommates!

[@aytviewer2421]

If you live in the Vegas area, bark scorpions are what you really need to keep a bug free home. It's crazy to watch one on a wall getting ready to grab its prey. If you've ever watched one in action, they are frightening fast. And yes, they do grab bugs with their front claws and sting them, and then basically start taking bites out of them before they are dead. Cool thing about them is that they glow in the dark when exposed to a UV light. I kept a couple around the house (especially on the nightstand) for when I had to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and also when we walked out to our hot tub. (Wish I could attach a photo or two to this post that I took showing them glowing...) Their stings will not kill you, but in my experience they are more powerful than a wasp or hornet and the area stung will swell up for most of the day. I tell you this from experience as they end up hiding behind boxes, or under blankets in a closet (on the ground), and many other places in and around the home. When I lived in the Vegas area I always had co-workers swear they had not scorpions around their house. I would lend them a UV light and tell them to go outside about 30 minutes after the sun had completely set and shine the light on their walls, corners, etc. and they always came back the next day cursing at me for what they saw. Almost all of them said they were happier thinking they had a scorpion-free home. I laughed and told them you generally have nothing to worry about, just don't step on one while barefoot at night. Oh one more thing, the babies glow too! I came across one once with the UV light that look deformed. On closer inspection, it had more than a dozen little baby scorpions riding along its back. Scorpions are cool!

[@RadeonVector]

OMG that thorned spider is amazing! I didn't even imagine something like that existed!

[@American-Wilderness]

Great video! Spiders like this are always under-appreciated, so its great to see them being shared! As for the featured species in the next video, I think it is either an Oustalet's or veiled chameleon.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Thanks! You're right, they're often overlooked but they're fascinating! What a great guess.

[@tkreitler]

So many people are scared to death of spiders and snakes. As a result, too many times when a person encounters one of these creatures, the creature is killed. Ben, you do an excellent job of presenting these animals as they really are- thank you!. I met with one of my company's customers today in the northern Piedmont of NC. The guy told me they found and killed a small "Moccasin" on their property that morning. He said it was about a foot long. I had to be professional but my disappointment was obvious. Since Cottonmouths are not in his area, I suspect a Dekay's Brown Snake met an untimely death.

[@chrisFan12]

Met him once, cool dude.👍🏼

[@smetlogik]

Ben? I met him once, too. Probably one of the coolest dudes on the planet.

[@erichtomanek4739]

Where I live, there's an orb spider web in the front yard. It hangs just over a metre from the roof gutter to the star jasmine bush and is over half a metre wide. I don't know the species since the spider is not at the web's centre and I haven't found it's hideaway.

[@Isaac-px1jx]

It’s got’a be a veiled chameleon

[@joylayton8794]

Thank you sooooo much for proper use of term "epithet" when referring to the second term of a species name! Great video - I can remember the first time I saw a spiny backed orb weaver 50+ years ago, when I was just a kid. I was amazed something so weird could be right there in my own yard.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Thanks Joy, I also think they are so special (even compared to other orb weavers)!

[@miaminative6260]

I'm in Native Floridian and I absolutely love golden silk orb weavers (aka banana spiders)! Sadly, they're disappearing from South Florida because of the overuse of pesticides and the increasing heat. But up here in Central Florida, I've still got a couple of big girls hanging out even though it's November since we haven't had any cold weather yet. Normally they're all gone in November. Love all of our spiders! Thank you for this great video! Wish everyone would stop using pesticides... They are devastating our GOOD insects and all the animals, including the birds, that eat them. First time I've seen your channel and I'm going to subscribe since I'm a huge wildlife lover and I've had my property certified as a wildlife habitat! Love your passion and advocacy for these creatures, Ben!

[@kwaakwamtayola8210]

Excellent

[@smetlogik]

Orb spiders win the spider popularity contest in my book. I'm feeling a FL vid next.

[@mbeining11]

What a cool channel, man!

[@jrkc9218]

Keep up these videos dude. It will continue to take off. You have a really great talent and love for wildlife. Thanks for all you do and keep it up!

[@furthings]

WOO YEAA SPINY ORBWEAVER!! Saved the best for last :]

[@waltermaples3998]

Ben I Love you my friend. Your just in time for Halloween 🦇. I Love and Care about Your channel ❤. I hope everything is going well for you my friend. Happy Halloween 🦇 Ben Zino I Loved this video my friend 😉👍❤️❤️❤️

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Thanks Walter, I love seeing your comments and appreciate your support. Happy Halloween!

[@rewritemysite]

Great work as always, Ben! Thanks for braving the most deadly animal in the world (the mosquito?) to bring us that video. Your biggest fans guess Veiled Chameleon for next time 😎

[@Martin-hb4il]

@5:27 What are those equally-spaced, little white web-bundles? What purpose could they serve?

[@jorasparents]

I am still petrified by spiders -- like crying and shaking scared of them (although I don't kill them) -- but that last one is so cute, I think I could maybe hold her. She looks so busy, like she has things to do. And that spiny back doesn't look spiderish -- more like a beanie baby. :)

[@stevencartlidge6574]

Ben, i like your videos on spiders. I have learned to appreciate them because of you. But im still not going to let one crawl around on me.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Thanks Steven, glad that you are growing to appreciate them more even if you don't want to let one crawl around yet!

[@aytviewer2421]

That has to be the largest spiny-back orb weaver I have ever seen. Usually the ones I come across are much smaller.

[@notjustklownin9506]

I've learned to absolutely love spiders, they don't fly or crawl around on turds, then land on your food, they actually eat those nasty bugs, I'll always welcome a spider in my room.

[@mrtexastaco7047]

Omg I was always scared of orb weaver spider they look creepy now I know not to worry about and just let them be and won’t harm me lol

[@batmorrigan7616]

California orb weavers next?

[@Martin-hb4il]

Gasteracantha Cancriformis means spiked belly (gaster is belly, akantha is spiny or spiked) and Cancriformis means crab-shaped. (Cancer sign in astrology is a crab.)

[@wattsmichaele]

OMG…I love most of your videos but the thumbnail scared the F out of me. I apologize. I cannot watch. Just saying howdy until your next topic. Man,I need a highball now!!!!

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Oops sorry, maybe you can watch without looking at the thumbnail haha

[@tkreitler]

You are exactly the person who needs to watch the video. Ben shows how un-scary these spiders are.