Spider Encounter Reports for 2007

by Jerry Cates

  
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Giant Spider Web in Texas (August 2007)

In Wills Point, Texas, at the Tawakoni State Park (40 miles northeast of Dallas) a complex spider web covering over 200 yards of trail has caught the attention of park officials, arachnologists, and the public. This unusual, but not unheard of, event has focused new light on the subject of spider sociality, an arcane field that engages a select group of scientists and investigators, including Dr. Ingi Agnarsson, a research scholar at Akron University. An excellent analysis of the subject, with numerous links to related articles on the Internet, can be found on a page prepared by Mike Quinn, a biologist with Texas Parks & Wildlife (be sure to scroll down that page to read all the material in its body).  I am presently studying a small congregation of thousands of grass spiders in a large shrub in Canton, Texas, and will be publishing my findings here before long. As Mike Quinn's page shows, such congregations of spiders are not unusual, but when they make enormous communal webs like that found in Tawakoni State Park, the public suddenly becomes interested in arachnid biology. That's a good thing...

The following reports were e-mailed to me on the dates indicated. Many thanks to all who have taken the time to provide accounts of their experiences. Names are, in most cases, reduced to initials (or first names and the first initial of the last name) to protect the privacy of the contributors, but the general locations of the sightings are shown. Note that many reports do not indicate where the encounter took place. I urge all who send future reports to mention at least the state/province and city where the encounter took place in your report.

All reports sent in are answered as quickly as possible, and questions posed in the reports are addressed in the reply. The text of specific replies is not always provided in the text below, but may include editorial comments from time to time in response to particular questions.  I am in the process of adding thumbnail images to this page, working from the top down, and expect to have that work completed soon (along with a number of competing projects... mea culpa...)

The photos shown directly below are in process and will soon be linked to their reports:

The photos below have ben processed and full reports and enlarged photos are available by clicking on the links:

Recluse spiders (Loxosceles spp.)

11 August 2007, orchard orbweaver (Leucauge venusta) adult female, The Woodlands, Texas

31 July 2007, "cow's face spider" (Dolomedes albineus) male carapace, Cedar Park, Texas

 

31 July 2007, whitebanded fishing spider (Dolomedes albineus) male, Cedar Park, Texas

 

28 July 2007, banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) hatchlings, Justin, Texas

 

28 July 2007, yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) adult female, Justin, Texas

 

28 July 2007, giant lichen orbweaver (Araneus bicentenarius) adult female, Helotes, Texas (in process)

25 July 2007, tarantula (Unknown species), Fort Hood, Texas (in process)

21 July 2007, banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) adult female, Justin, Texas

 

21 July 2007, giant lichen orbweaver (Araneus bicentenarius) adult female, Helotes, Texas

 

19 July 2007, giant lichen orbweaver (Araneus bicentenarius) adult female, Helotes, Texas

 

15 July 2007, golden silk orbweaver (Nephila clavipes) adult female, Houston, Texas

 

15 July 2007, arabesque orbweaver (Neoscona arabesca), adult female, Mansfield, Texas (in process)

15 July 2007, yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) adult female, Tyler, Texas

 

12 July 2007, golden silk orbweaver (Nephila clavipes) adult female, Houston, Texas

5 July 2007, arachnid (Unknown species), Elsa, Texas

3 July 2007, dark fishing spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus) adult female, Porter, Texas

15 June 2007, western spotted orbweaver (Neoscona oaxacensis) adult female, San Antonio, Texas

12 June 2007, brown recluse spiders (Loxosceles spp.)in Texas (DFW Area)

6 June 2007, western spotted orbweaver (Neoscona oaxacensis) adult female, Dripping Springs, Texas

6 June 2007, western spotted orbweaver (Neoscona oaxacensis) adult male, Dripping Springs, Texas

3 June 2007, arabesque orbweaver (Neoscona arabesca) adult female, Houston, Texas

2 June 2007, redbacked jumping spider (Phidippus johnsoni) adult male, San Isidro, Texas

1 June 2007, spinybacked orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis) adult female, Houston, Texas

14 May 2007, daddy long legs (Harvestmen in the order Opiliones), Burleson, Texas

12 April 2007, southern black widow (Latrodectus mactans) adult female, Jacksonville, Texas

12 April 2007, southern black widow (Latrodectus mactans) adult male, Jacksonville, Texas

Previous Encounters:

2006, southern black widow (Latrodectus mactans) male & female, Jacksonville, Texas

2006, yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) adult female,College Station, Texas

2006, green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) adult female, Round Rock, Texas

2006. spinybacked orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis) adult female, College Station, Texas

2002, yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) adult female, San Antonio, Texas

2002, yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) adult female, Southlake, Texas 

 2001, yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) juvenile, Round Rock, Texas

1995, southern house spider (Kukulcania hibernalis) adult male, Central Texas

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Important Notice

Please contact us about your personal experiences, if you have been bitten by any spider, poisonous or not, including jumping spiders and garden spiders (the bites of which typically produce a transitory inflammation, but resolve within a few days without medical attention), whether recently or in the past thirty years, anywhere in the world. For example, the bite of a species of garden spider, the golden orb spider of Australia [Nephila edulis] typically is unremarkable, but on occasion produces medically significant secondary infections; the frequency and nature of bites experienced from that species of spider is also a part of this study. 

The object of this study is to collect data that might relate to a mysterious series of spider-related infections, involving a special pathogen, that took place in the United States and in Australia between 1977 and 2006.  Although only fifteen such infections were reported to medical establishments, seven appear to be associated with spider bites.  Some authorities suggest that the number of actual infections of this type that occurred in the U.S. and Australia during the past thirty years is much larger, but that they have been underreported.

Underreporting of specific kinds of infections can occur, either because the persons infected chose not to seek medical assistance, or the medical establishments misdiagnosed the infections as being caused by other infectious agents. 

We are seeking to establish an estimate of the number of human spider bites that occur each year by these and similar spiders, whether the bite resulted in injury to the human or not.  Next, we hope to establish the number of instances where the bite (1) became inflamed and/or infected, then resolved without medical intervention, or (2) infected, ulcerated, or led to a generalized sickness, and required medical intervention.

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