Spiders
  • Orb Spider
    • Color:  large, prominent, and bright
    • Size: large
    • Feed on: flying insects
    • Nests: are often found in gardens, fields and forests.
    • Identifying Characteristics: Orb Weavers make two dimensional, circular shaped webs. This is one of the most recognizable types of webs, which can span up to 8 inches, and consists of a stretchy spiral silk. 
  • House Spider
    • Color: dark brown
    • Feed on: any insect or spider that gets caught in their web
    • Nests:  connected with buildings and other man-made structures. They are most commonly found outdoors, inside garages, tree holes, rock walls, woodpiles, and other sheltered areas.
    • Identifying Characteristics: The Common House spiders are connected with buildings and other man-made structures. They are most commonly found outdoors, inside garages, tree holes, rock walls, woodpiles, and other sheltered areas. 
  • Hobo Spider
    • Color: grayish-brown with herringbone or chevron patterns on the abdomen; its underside, a light tan center with dark surrounding bands. Legs are brownish yellow with no stripes.
    • Size:  1 to 1¾ inches, including legs
    • Nests: funnel-shaped web, preferring outdoor areas such as cracks between bricks or under wood piles, stones, or vegetation. Inside our homes or structures they are built in dark, moist areas such as basements, window wells, and under low-lying furniture. Indoors, they are usually found in basements or ground floor levels.
    • Identifying Characteristics: Usually painless, but do indeed bite. Within 15 minutes a burning sensation and reddening may occur; then the bite area enlarges, and within 3 days blisters may form. The spider’s venom is strong enough to cause considerable local pain and a severe allergic reaction in some people.
  • Black Widow
    • Color: black with the famous, red hourglass on the underside of the abdomen. The female is shiny black with a row of red spots sometimes visible. The male is smaller than the female, with white lines on the side of the abdomen.
    • Nests:  The Black Widow lives under stones, near entrances to abandoned rodent burrows, or outbuildings.
    • Identifying Characteristics: Its venom is highly toxic, reported to be 15 times stronger than the prairie rattlesnake. Its web silk is stronger than most other spiders.