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spiny backed orb-weavers (often called crab spiders) ... I'm just going to keep calling them crap spiders since the shell is very tough and they crunch when stepped on. Everyone else called them that, so that's that.
Back on maui, there were tons of them... Big island, not so much ... or at least, I haven't noticed them around here. I wonder if the geckos would eat them? Probably not... Once I did a little experiment, I got one of those larger spiders, the kind that put lightning bolts into it's web... Well, I tossed one into a crab spiders web... Guess who won? Yes, the crab spider, chewing off leg by leg. Oh well, I was rooting for the bigger one.
The joys of living in hawaii! Thankfully, I have not been bitten by a crab spider, but I hear they have a strong bite, and by the way they destroyed the other spider, I can see why!
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quote:
Originally posted by Midnight Rambler
Yeah, that sounds just like LFA. Contrary to the name I rarely notice when they sting me - instead that evening a welt swells up about an inch and a half in diameter, with a burning itch. It stays for week or so, often with the itch subsiding during the day and getting worse at night. I thought it was something like a kissing bug until I actually saw the ants fall on me and then had stings in the same place later.
Try putting peanut butter baits around. It's possible the ants could even be walking out on the spider webs, and stinging you when you walk into them. You would probably notice a spinyback spider walking on your face, and if it did bite I expect the bite itself would hurt.
LFA can both bite and sting, many people get a different reactions from the two. On seems to create an immediate response and the other is delayed. Liquid benedryl can provide relief from both.
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quote:
Originally posted by TomK
Since the coquis moved in, those webs and spiders have vanished. I assumed the frogs ate them all and they were gone, so am surprised to learn they're still around. Same with the large black and yellow garden spiders that spread webs around the lanai. They disappeared at the same time.
So that's it. I was wondering what happened to all the spiders.
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Just to be clear, it was an assumption of mine. I don't know if it's correct.
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quote:
Originally posted by shockwave rider
LFA can both bite and sting, many people get a different reactions from the two. On seems to create an immediate response and the other is delayed. Liquid benedryl can provide relief from both.
No they don't; they may bite down to get a grip while stinging, but it's the sting that hurts. There are two major groups of ants - one can sting like wasps and bees; the other has lost the stinger and instead bites and sprays acid into the bite. Fire ants (of all kinds) and big-headed ants are in the first group; yellow crazy ants (long-legged ants) and the black ants that come into your house are in the second.
