Hobbies And Interests
Golden Silk Spider
The golden silk spider, also known as the banana spider because of its shape and color, is common in the Unites States. This spider has a yellow abdomen and a silver-streaked body. Its sticky webs are usually attached to trees and shrubs and can trap small birds or bats, which it then eats. The spider's usual feasts also include moths, beetles, flies, locusts and grasshoppers. Its bite on a human produces pain around the site of wound, but is less severe than a bee sting.
Yellow Garden Spider
Found commonly in Canada and the United States, the yellow garden spider has a predominantly yellow body with some black markings on its legs and back. It is also known as the "writing spider" because of zigzag designs weaving down the center of the web. These markings provide stability and strength to the web. A bite from the yellow garden spider creates an itchy, swollen bump that usually lasts two to three days.
Yellow Sac Spider
The yellow sac spider is small, at less than half an inch, but very venomous. It does not produce webs. Instead it constructs tubular silken sacs about an inch long. These sacs are usually found on the undersides of rocks or leaves. These spiders are responsible for more spider bites than any other kind of yellow spider. The bite is similar to a wasp sting and sometimes mistaken for the often lethal bite of a black widow spider. A bite from a yellow sac spider is quite painful. It can result in redness, swelling and symptoms that may include fever, chills, dizziness, headache and nausea.
Heteropoda Davidbowie
German spider expert Peter Jaeger discovered this rare species in Malaysia. He named it after the British musician David Bowie. The moniker is attributed to Bowie's 1972 album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars." Jaeger told "The Telegraph" in 2009 that naming spiders after celebrities helped "draw attention to the marginal status of many species as human activity destroys their habitats." The Heteropoda davidbowie is large with yellow hair and eight eyes. It is exceptionally fast and can inject venom to immobilize prey. These spiders feast on insect pests like cockroaches, but will bite humans only if they are provoked. A bite causes minor swelling and localized pain that lasts a day or two.