Need an ID

[Josh1129]

So this spider was given to me by a friend who keeps many different inverts. All he said it was is a type of orb weaver. I found this pic online and it looks almost Identical but mine has black bands on its legs and is quite large.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Also if anybody keeps them I would love to see them. mine was kept in a small cup since he hatched her out but I would like to do a 10 gallon setup for her any ideas?

 

[Widowman10]

possibly Araniella displicata. definitely looks to be Araniella though...

 

[jsloan]

First, I agree with Widowman10 (who beat me to it ). The "looks like" spider in your picture is Araniella displicata.

A larger orbweaver that looks similar, but with banding on the legs might be Araneus trifolium: http://bugguide.net/node/view/38061/bgimage In some individuals the leg bands are paler. Also, the color of the abdomen can vary from yellow, lime green, red, orange, brown, grey, etc.

If that's the one you have then it doesn't have long to live. The adult females fatten up and lay their eggs around this time of year, then die. Nevertheless, these are impressive spiders!

 

[Josh1129]

So I'm now guessing his reason for giving her to me is that she don't have much longer to live. Now if she lays eggs how hard would they be to hatch out? And thanks for the replies.

 

[jsloan]

Now if she lays eggs how hard would they be to hatch out?

I'm not sure, because I've never raised this species. The egg sac usually overwinters and is exposed to a period of cold temperatures before the babies complete their development and emerge. It's possible this cold period is necessary before the eggs will hatch, so keeping an egg sac inside where it's warm might upset that. If I had the spider I think I'd just release it back into the wild.

 

[Moltar]

To the untrained (or less trained) eye a lot of spiders look like that one. Can you post a picture of the actual spidey in question?

 

[Josh1129]

I am sure this is the one it is I went on bug guide and broke out some of the field guides and its a match I forgot all about those darn field guides. thanks for the help