Venomous – Possible bites to people and animals.

The spiders themselves. You’ll notice them in the center of large spider webs, or hiding nearby, waiting for other insects to fall into the web.

Almost everywhere, though more on the exterior of structures versus the inside.

Populations can become very numerous.

These spiders are quite harmless. They are beneficial in keeping other insect populations under control.

Wherever there is moisture, there are orb weavers. Near lakes and rivers there are usually increased populations.

These spiders are quite harmless. They are beneficial in keeping other insect populations under control. The Orb Web Spider, also known as the European Garden Spider is a very common species found throughout the Pacific Northwest. Individual spiders’ coloring can range from extremely light yellow to very dark grey, but all European garden spiders have mottled markings across the back with five or more large white dots forming a cross. The white dots result from cells that are filled with guanine, which is a byproduct of protein metabolism. The third pair of legs of garden spiders are specialized for assisting in the spinning of orb webs. These spiders also use them to move around on their web without getting stuck. These legs are useful only in the web; while on the ground, these legs are of little value. Since this tends to be a passive insect, it is difficult to provoke to bite – but if it does, the bite is just slightly unpleasant and completely harmless to humans.