Spiders on my porch - Ask Extension
I live in Illinois in the Chicagoland area. At night I enjoy sitting on my porch or patio out front and listen to music. However, there is a spider p...
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Spiders on my porch #418341
Asked July 31, 2017, 11:16 PM EDT
I live in Illinois in the Chicagoland area. At night I enjoy sitting on my porch or patio out front and listen to music. However, there is a spider problem. I noticed that there are small tan or light brown spiders that have made webs near the lights and the banisters. Normally it wouldn't be a problem since I presume They are more scared of me than I am of them. The only issue is on multiple occasions while I was sitting there minding my own business I started to feel Web on me and just last night when I threw down my headphones lo and behold there was one of those spiders attached to it and he quickly scurried away. I don't have a photo on hand but I would be willing to take one next time I am outside but I was just wondering what kind of spiders these could be and if they're dangerous and why on earth they coming after me when I was leaving them alone. Thanks.
Will County Illinois
Expert Response
There are any number of spiders that could be described as small and brown so giving an accurate identification is problematic. Orb weaving spiders (in the family Araneidae) will build webs near porch lights. Orb weavers make the classic 'spider web' shaped webs. Other web building spiders prefer darker, more concealed locations to build webs. Those include cobweb spiders that make seemingly messy webs.
None of that really answers your question about the spiders being dangerous. In a word, no they really aren't dangerous. Black widows may occur in your area around Chicago but they do not occur in open areas, like around porch lights.
And while it might seem like the spiders are after us, they really aren't. They are simply going about their business - trying to catch flies and raise their families - when they might incidentally land on you every once in a while. (some young spiders disperse by using a silk strand as a balloon to float from one place to another).
One way to put the situation in perspective is to think about how much more often you might be swatting at gnats and mosquitoes while sitting on the porch if the spiders weren't there to catch many of those pesky flies.
If you'd like an identification of the spiders, please send pictures of the spiders and their webs.
None of that really answers your question about the spiders being dangerous. In a word, no they really aren't dangerous. Black widows may occur in your area around Chicago but they do not occur in open areas, like around porch lights.
And while it might seem like the spiders are after us, they really aren't. They are simply going about their business - trying to catch flies and raise their families - when they might incidentally land on you every once in a while. (some young spiders disperse by using a silk strand as a balloon to float from one place to another).
One way to put the situation in perspective is to think about how much more often you might be swatting at gnats and mosquitoes while sitting on the porch if the spiders weren't there to catch many of those pesky flies.
If you'd like an identification of the spiders, please send pictures of the spiders and their webs.
Hello again and thank you for the very detailed and descriptive answer of my question to the best of your ability. Tonight I went out to my porch and the spider was there again but this time with a large white ball looking thing right next to it which I can only guess to be an egg. I snapped a few photos from as close as I could get without being scared so I zoomed in a little. I hope these pictures are helpful in trying to identify this species . Thanks again.
Hello again and thank you for the very detailed and descriptive answer of my question to the best of your ability. Tonight I went out to my porch and the spider was there again but this time with a large white ball looking thing right next to it which I can only guess to be an egg. I snapped a few photos from as close as I could get without being scared so I zoomed in a little. I hope these pictures are helpful in trying to identify this species . Thanks again.
Hello,
The large white ball appears to be the spider's abdomen (the back end of her body). You may see a large white ball that appears 'fuzzy' somewhere in or around her web. That would be her egg sac. The eggs are wrapped inside a silk covering so the sac appears 'fuzzy'. Some spiders will guard their egg sacs so you often see the female sitting over the sac.
Females of many spider species mature in late summer and into the fall and then lay their eggs so you may frequently see them over the next couple of months.
Unfortunately, I can't see enough details to give a good identification of the species, but it would be some type of orb weaver. This guide provides some good pictures and information on common spiders in the Chicago area.
http://fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/sites/default/files/rapid-color-guides-pdfs/390_1.pdf
Please write back with any questions or if you or a friend can get a close up picture of your spider. Again, she is doing more good (see all of the prey remnants in the web!) than harm.
The large white ball appears to be the spider's abdomen (the back end of her body). You may see a large white ball that appears 'fuzzy' somewhere in or around her web. That would be her egg sac. The eggs are wrapped inside a silk covering so the sac appears 'fuzzy'. Some spiders will guard their egg sacs so you often see the female sitting over the sac.
Females of many spider species mature in late summer and into the fall and then lay their eggs so you may frequently see them over the next couple of months.
Unfortunately, I can't see enough details to give a good identification of the species, but it would be some type of orb weaver. This guide provides some good pictures and information on common spiders in the Chicago area.
http://fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/sites/default/files/rapid-color-guides-pdfs/390_1.pdf
Please write back with any questions or if you or a friend can get a close up picture of your spider. Again, she is doing more good (see all of the prey remnants in the web!) than harm.
