Posted by Joanne Pearce on August 30, 2007

Q: Saw this spider tonight outside my front door. I live in the city, in a condo complex. It had a brown butt and an orange body and underside. It's legs were long and orange with a few stripes. It was between half an inch to an inch long. Was wondering what kind of spider it is as this is the 2nd one this month we've seen around our door(which is sheltered in). I don't know how to upload the photo of it, so if you need it pls ask and I will email to you.

State: Alberta

A: Thanks for the photo. From the looks of your animal, it looks like one of the orb-weavers in the family Araneidae. This is a very large family of spiders with several hundred species in the U.S. and Canada. I'd guess it belongs to the genus Araneus and these are often called garden spiders. This is not a dangerous spider so nothing to fear for family or pets. You can google this family or genus and see if you can find a match for your species. I do have a web address that shows an Araneus spider that is probably similar to yours at: www.backyardnature.net Keep in mind that there are quite a few with subtle variations so making a specific ID isn't always easy.

Thanks for asking and I hope this helps.

John Wiessinger ( August 30, 2007)