Im rather new to gardening so Im not used to bug identification yet. I would think that for the most part spiders would be good (yes that is SO hard to admit spiders could be good for anything, yucky!) for plants because they eat alot of bugs. But can they too damage your plants? My one shade bed is covered in these thin webs with an almost tunnal like hole in the web. I only took pictures of the most obvious ones but several of my plants have a giant web under them. Also wondering if anyone knows what kind of spider makes that web and if they are poisoness. Any help would be great. I normally like natural methods for taking care of problems but if the spiders are going to be an issue I will probably spray the whole flower bed. Thanks for any help :)
P.S. I live in northern MN.

Welcome to ATP

Do you know if the tunnel-like hole is funnel-shaped or more circular? If funnel-shaped, it could be a "Grass Spider" aka "Funnel Web Grass Spider" who is reportedly a low-risk, non-aggressive spider: http://www.termite.com/spider-.... If circular-shaped, it could possibly be Hololena sp. (no common name): http://web.pdx.edu/~smasta/Mas.... It, too, is not considered a threat to people and it feasts on insects: http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

I hope this helps you and, again, to ATP!

I think this is a better link regarding grass spiders: http://ento.psu.edu/extension/...

Thank you so much. It is good to know they are helpful to my plants even though they creep me out. I never knew those common black house spiders are poisoness. I see them all the time. Thank goodness for gardening gloves! Thank you again for your help. We saw a nickle size black small-legged spider with a white spot in its back and blue fangs this weekend. I was sure hoping it wasnt a whole bunch of them.

I have the same reaction to spiders. I was bitten by a black widow 20 years ago and became deathly ill. Ever since, I just don't tolerate any spider well.

Again, to ATP - it's great to have you here!

Brandi!

Yeah, spiders are just such..avid webby architects. If their web annoys me already, I just remove them..am pretty sure they will easily weave again in no time..

As long as you watch out and steer away from this one..this one is the poisonous one, and its web is really different, less flimsy and seems stronger than the others.

The Black Widow

Funnel Web spiders ("grass" spiders) shouldn't be a problem, unless you live in Australia. Most arachnid experts seem to agree that the only really dangerous ones in the US are Widows (Black and Brown), and the Brown Recluse ("Fiddle spider"). Of course that doesn't mean other varieties couldn't give you a nasty bite, and some people are allergic to the venom, which could be a big problem. Most spiders are actually pretty shy & try to keep out of your way. The trouble comes when you reach into somewhere and don't see them. They're pretty much programmed to attack only the things they eat - insects. But if they're threatened they will bite. So the best advice is probably to use gardening gloves. We frequently have Golden Orb Weavers (aka "Garden spiders") and some other chunky red ones that I have yet to identify (they spin very thick, strong webs, almost like fishing line!) I'm always amazed at how many bugs they catch. Anything I see with an exoskeleton in the house will quickly become a stain, but outside I generally leave them alone if possible.

I just try to remember I am bigger, they are smaller.. albeit with more eyes than I have But I do understand..I do not like crawlies too..but I have to remember their function, so I do not smash them at first sight. I have been taking photos here and there, educating myself which ones I should steer away from or really eradicate. But there are a lot of good bugs there..just have to know which ones.

This one is a cutie..a resident in my orchid growcamp

I had one very similar to that on my window. We let it be. Although unlike you I cannot look at a spider and see anything but ceepy ..but it was unique enough so we tried to get a picture..I take all my pictures from my phone so it is hard to get a close up but it had a white spot on its back, smaller legs, and almost neon green by his fangs. Do you know what kind it is? We tried to look it up online to no avail.

I am not so good with ID..I refer my bug ID questions to another forum at cubits.

Oh, I can only take a shot of the criiters away from them too, just have to use my camera's zoom function..cannot be too near..they will jump away, they are more scared than us, just do not want it to jump my way..I will run! Yeah, the phone camera does not have good zoom..sadly..but I like the panoramic functions it has...nice for wide angle shots!

Tarev's picture is of a Jumping Spider of some sort. There are a lot of different species, though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Although they have their place in nature, I'm not real fond of spiders ... they make me nervous, but I do like taking their pictures.

Brown Widow and a pretty Black and Yellow Garden Spider:


Golden Silk Orbweaver and ............. Orchard Orbweaver:


Spinybacked Orbweaver and .............. another pretty but unidentified garden spider:

oh wow...I think Im going to have nigjtmare LOL

LOL Brandi ... I don't much like spiders but where there are gardens, there's going to be spiders and bugs. I just try to steer clear of them.

I agree, Lin.

A friend died from complications of a Brown Recluse bite, so I treat all spiders as potential problems I want nothing of.

Yikes! I'd never heard of anyone dying from the bite of a Brown Recluse but it shouldn't surprise me ... they are nasty spiders! We have a close friend who was bitten by a Brown Recluse years ago and it ended up requiring surgery! I've heard that the Brown Recluse venom is worse than the Brown and Black Widow ... they all scare me so I try to keep a good distance from snakes, spiders and other creepy crawlies.

plantladylin said: another pretty but unidentified garden spider:

Is that a writing spider (one of the Argiope)? Its web sure looks similar....

I think I may have found it (?) The first picture at the top of the page at:
http://www.austinbug.com/larva...
has a spider with a very similar pattern on its back.It is a picture of another Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) but it is very young and its coloration looks the same as your spider's (no yellow showing yet). I read that as they grow older, their webs are not as heavily zig-zagged and, eventually, will only show a single line.

OldGardener: Thanks for that information and the link ... very interesting read!

Your photo of the web is wonderful - it made me curious as to the spider's id. I see that you have a photo of an adult in photo #2 with the one line of "writing", too - remarkable!.

Thank you for posting all of the pictures - they are fantastic!!