Meet Charlotte the Orbweaver

When I got home from work today my husband was just beside himself with excitement.  "Come see!!" He gestured to me, motioning me to come to the side of our covered deck.  As I approached he smiled and pointed upwards.  "Look!" he said with a big grin on his face.  I looked up and all I saw was a large-ish grey wad dangling from the deck roof.

 

"Okay, what am I looking at?" I asked him, puzzled.

 

"Look!" he pointed upwards again. 

 

I peered closer.  Just under one of the support beams I saw some legs.  Spider legs to be exact.  And not the legs of a small spider either.  "Holy cow!" I exclaimed.  "That's one HUGE spider!"

 

Holy Cow!!!

"I know!" he answered giggling.  "See that?" he asked me as he pointed to the grey wad.  "That's her dinner!"

 

That's when I realized that the grey wad was an entombed moth.  A LARGE entombed moth.  Holy crap!  This by far was one of the largest outdoor spiders I've ever seen.

 

That's one big girl!

Now I'm sure there are many of you who are now eeewing and squirming in your seats and possibly making signs of the cross.  "A Spider???   Aaaaaaah!!  Kill it!!!!"  But hold on!  You need to understand that this girl is our friend!  Yes, truly, she is!  Please allow me to introduce you to our special lady guest, Charlotte!

 

Don't worry!  I promise!  She won't bite you!  Can't say the same for that poor moth there!

Because Charlotte is such a big girl (and yes we are fairly certain she's a 'she') it made ID'ing her very easy.  According to my copy of Garden Bugs of British Columbia (a Lone Pine publication) Charlotte is an Orbweaver (Araneus spp). 

 

Consulting the book I learned that fully-grown female Orbweavers can be as large as a loonie - that is the name we Canadians gave our $1 coin.  For those of you unfamiliar with our currency, that's a bit smaller than an American silver dollar.  I would say Charlotte is about that big (14-15mm).  Yep, that's a BIG spider! 

 

We named her Charlotte because 'Charlotte' in Charlotte's Web was an Orbweaver, and wasn't that Charlotte a kind and sweet spider?  Well truth be told, our Charlotte on our deck is as harmless to us as the storybook Charlotte was to Wilbur the Pig.  She may be large and formidable but all she's really interested in is a safe place to hide, a good meal, and a safe place for her to lay her eggs so that her offspring will succeed after her.  Like all her kind, she is 'hugely beneficial to gardeners, devouring numerous insects including plenty of pesky ones.'

 

Her kind are quite common in our province of British Columbia and are often encountered in late summer.  Notable features are a 'plump, brown body with large, lighter brown abdomen, often marked with dark brown and white, giving the appearance of a cat face (or arrow on some specimens).'

 

Hey!  Quit shining that light on me!  I'm trying to have dinner here!

FYI males only get to be about half the size of the female (about 6-7mm) which is why we know Charlotte is a 'she'.

 

The book continues to say that her species mates in autumn after which the female produces an egg case then dies. (Just like in the story.)  'The egg case overwinters, often tucked away in a protective crevice.  In spring after the eggs hatch, the spiderlings climb to a high spot and release silken threads that the wind catches, carrying them to their new homes.'  Remember that part in the story?  Just when you thought you were finished sniffling over the death of Charlotte, all her babies suddenly hatch and started to float away saying good-bye to a heart-broken Wilbur?

 

So on behalf of Charlotte and her kin, if you can't love her, please try to co-exist with her as she will earn her keep by taking care of your pesky pests!

 

Om nom nom nom nom

  Photo credits (all photos):  Trish Paquette (aka The Happy Hedgehog)