My favorite orb weavers, they're so beautiful. Their temper, not so much-had one bite me on the leg when I accidentally walked into and ruined it's web. Was left with an incredibly itchy red swelling that persisted for days.

Tbh, I think that's a perfectly good reason to be annoyed xD I would flip if someone destroyed something I'd been making for hours/days.

I have not heard much about them biting people. Guess its because they stay away from homes. Still easy enough to walk right through their web they way they make it so low to the cround. I had to crouch low down to get this shot. It would have been easier to lie down but for all the the thistles.

And it is a great photo!! It appears this one's a female brimming with eggs.

MMmh, more pretty spiders :)

Oh my goodness! So beautiful <3

It is a stunning little thing.

We called these common garden spiders where I grew up.

I used to have one I thought of as a pet- It had a huge web down at about waist level in my grandmother's irises.

I could actually pet it's back...And it tolerated this for a few moments before it would start swinging the web back and forth to avoid my finger...But without moving from the center of the web.

It would also drink sugar water from a wheat straw if I held it to her mouth.

She was really huge- A good 2 1/2 inches from tip to tip of her legs.

-Badger-

I should have this one sugar water. At 2 1/2 inches it's about twice the size of this one.

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/e.....ow_argiope.htm

The top pic is what our spiders looked like.
Though ours grew MUCH larger than what they give for a maximum size.

Disneyland has millions of these in their landscaping- The jungle cruise guys go on "spider patrol" before the park opens and knock them out of the webs so the guests don't see them.
I am told they eat so well, they grow up to 3 inches across.

I have only seen one in the times I've been to the park- and it was pretty close to that size.

She had a web tucked back out of sight next to a building, and I had walked around the corner to blow my nose so I wouldn't gross anyone out.

So I can attest to the park having a population of mighty damn big garden spiders.

-Badger-

We have theses little wee jumping spiders that usually get me on the calf, the skin goes red, with an unusual rectangular pattern around a welt , feels hot and itchy for days then eventually the redness goes away and the welt goes hard, which last like a wart for about 3 months. Worst bite was short of my armpit, walking or anything involving my arm moving over the site irritated it. I've only been bit six times in my life 'tho.

I hear so much about people being bitten by spiders. Way more than tehy are upposed to. A couple years aga I woke up. My ankles was swollen and there were two pairs of small puncture marks. It looked like I had been bitten. A couple days later There I caught a large female tube web spider in my home - a species known to bite people. No idea if that was what bit me but I have my suspicions.