I kinda feel sorry for that insect, ha. A few nights ago when I let the dogs outside before bed, I saw a HUGE spider sitting on the brick wall in the entry. It was approx. the size of my hand. I called hubby and he had no idea what it was either.

You live in a warmer climate than I, so I guess it figures that your spiders are bigger. The only tarantula I ever saw was in Arizona. But yesterday I gently removed this one from my grandson's stroller. His body (not including the legs) was about an inch long. He looked awfully big to us!

Hello from Nicaragua---attached is a scorpion we found strolling into our pantry!!

Last time I saw a scorpion, it was in Bermuda. They look rather mean. Yours looks a little . . . squashed?

I love spiders!
My neighbor had a big orb weaver on her gazebo....it had trapped and was sucking the life fluids out of a big grasshopper. Make a believer out of her.

Awesome! I call them "Ling-longs", short for "Daddy long legs" that we called them when we were little. I love to hold them and find them a nice corner in the garage. I have one I watched spin a bug he caught for about 15 minutes when I got home from work the other night. I now talk to him daily, he is so sweet, getting all the bad bugs for us!

He wasn't squashed then!!!!---That came later!!! Caught him in Lee valley bug trapper!!! Ya, he looked pretty mellow--until I trapped him. then he was full of energy,lol

Our long-leg spiders are clustering in balls of what looks like a million legs!

I found a dead scorpion in our bathtub a couple of months ago. First one I've seen on this property in over 20 years. And it's about time for the tarantula migration to start, we see them crossing the roads a lot, have to watch out to be sure we don't hit them. They are sooo cool.

Nice photos, Susan! I'm off to investigate that bug trapper!

From lee valley --link below----lot of neat things at Lee Valley if you have never been! I'm sure you can find them on Amazon as well. Only thing I wish--the handle was a bit longer,lol

Here is a link that might be useful: Bug trapper

I like that bug trapper! However, I accomplish the same thing (albeit less elegantly) with a little paper cup and an index card.

Your second picture, Alisande, looks like an orb weaver. We have them around here all the time at night. I would never kill a spider. If I find one in the house, I carry them outside. Love spiders.

How about this lovely lady I found crawling across the inside of my garage door. (Which thankfully is a detached garage.)

for some reason bob_cville's gives me the heebie-jeebies. None of the others bothered me? I liked the others. Even a scorpion in a house which I would NOT love. Hm. Wonder why the black widow bothers me more. I actually shivered!

Ugh and yuck, we had a HUGE flying roach in the living room last night and I am still grossed out. Fortunately, the cats cornered it which allowed hubby to catch it. To me, it looked about a foot long, but he says it was about 2 inches in size, ha. The neighbor has had them come in lately as well, apparently they are looking for water because of the drought. I would rather have 1000 arachnid house guests than one roach.

as long as they stay outside...I'm ok...I still have the heebies after being bit by the Recluse...

An earlier one that I found, I captured in a jar and then not knowing what to do with it, threw it in the kitchen trash can.

A hour or so later my wife came home, and shouted from the other room, "This should be in the recycling bin" which, before I could say anything, was followed by a high-pitched scream.

Petra, I'm with you about the 1000 arachnids. I had no idea roaches could fly. Eeek!!

Oh yes, they can, and they do!! I would post a pic, but can't bring myself to google for any, eek.
The week after we moved to TX, one flew toward me and would have landed on my head if I hadn't ducked out of the way. I was so traumatized, I wanted to move right then and there. :o)

bob cville's spider is a black widow, which is venomous. While the bite is not deadly to healthy people (though it won't be a lot of fun), children, the elderly and unwell people can really suffer.

alisande:

You have captured a photo of a "Daddy Long legs". When I lived on a farm as a child, I'd see one of these on occasion, but never spied one with prey. We knew they were the good guys in our garden and left them alone.

Someone posted a photo of a "black widow" who possess a nasty bite. There is another spider with truly dangerous venom and that is the "brown recluse".

A poisonous spider that is becoming much more common in the south and southwest is the Brown Widow. It's worth mentioning because populations are really increasing in certain locations.

Reportedly, they have the same retiring personality as their black widow cousins, but their venom is stronger. Look at the egg sac and remember it.

I'll attach a google images page with lots of creepy pictures!

Here is a link that might be useful: Brown Widow spiders

I found this one in my bedroom this summer.

I sat him on a paper towel to take the picture. Shortly after taking the picture he uncurled his legs and started crawling again...

So I took him out by the shed and set him free.