Spider Identification

[whitefang5412]

Anyone ever seen a banana spider? We get them down here in south east texas. Practically harmless, and about the length of an adult male hand with a very intimidating look, and their strong yellow web is tougher than kevlar. They don't even bite.

I bet no one even knew that the daddy long legs is the most poisonous spider in the world, but due to it having a mouth way too small, it can't bite us. Theres so many of them out in west texas where I hunt it will drive you insane.

[Changturkey]

The daddy long legs thing is an urban legend.

[whitefang5412]

The daddy long legs thing is an urban legend.

Urban Legend how?

[starcannon]

Urban Legend how?

A little tidbit on daddy longlegs below

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/longlegs.asp

oh oh and
http://www.answers.com/topic/daddy-longlegs

A venomous myth

An urban legend claims that the harvestman is the most venomous animal in the world, but its fangs are too small to bite a human and therefore is not dangerous. (The same myth applies to the cellar spider, which is also called a daddy longlegs)[7]. This is untrue on several counts. None of the known species have venom glands or fangs, instead having chelicerae [8]. The size of its mouth varies by species, but even those with relatively large jaws hardly ever bite humans or other large creatures, even in self-defense. The few known cases of actual bites did not involve envenomation, and had no lasting effect.[9]

enjoy, *shiver* spiders ACK!

[mike1234]

Urban Legend how?

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/longlegs.asp

http://spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_grand_...legs_poisonous

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholcidae

There is an urban legend stating that daddy long-legs spiders have the most potent venom of any spider, but that their chelicerae (fangs) are either too small or too weak to puncture human skin; the same legend is also repeated of the harvestman and crane fly, also called "daddy long-legs" in some locales. Indeed, pholcid spiders do have a short fang structure (called uncate). However, brown recluse spiders also have uncate fang structure, but are able to deliver medically significant bites. Either pholcid venom is not toxic to humans or there is a musculature difference between the two arachnids, with recluses, being hunting spiders, possessing stronger muscles for fang penetration. In 2004, the Discovery Channel show MythBusters set out to test the daddy long-legs myth (season 1, episode 13 "Buried in Concrete"). After measuring the spider's fangs at approximately 0.25 mm (average human skin thickness varies from about 0.5mm to 4mm), the show's host was apparently bitten, although the bite produced little more than a mild short-lived burning sensation. This appears to confirm the suspicion that pholcids can penetrate human skin, but that their venom is practically harmless to humans.

M.

[Icehuck]

Anyone ever seen a banana spider? We get them down here in south east texas. Practically harmless, and about the length of an adult male hand with a very intimidating look, and their strong yellow web is tougher than kevlar. They don't even bite.

Have to be careful about the banana spider. There are actually 2 spiders that are called the banana spider. The one in North America and the one is Central/South America. The Central/South American one is very much deadly. The neurotoxin it injects is very similar to that of a Black Widow or Australian Redback.

To the OP - It's not a very close look at the spider, so its a lil bit hard to make out the marking, but it should be wolf spider.

[whitefang5412]

Have to be careful about the banana spider. There are actually 2 spiders that are called the banana spider. The one in North America and the one is Central/South America. The Central/South American one is very much deadly. The neurotoxin it injects is very similar to that of a Black Widow or Australian Redback.

To the OP - It's not a very close look at the spider, so its a lil bit hard to make out the marking, but it should be wolf spider.

True. The ones in South America hide out in the banana tree's and are HHHUUUGGGEEEE. Much larger than any spider here.