Hey guys, for the last 3-4 weeks we had this banana spider with a web by our porch, and it's even near a window that's open, but it's done nothing and just sit there on it's web and do nothing.
Should I be worried that one of the world's most lethal spider next to the Black Widow is right outside my house? Or is it fine as long as we don't start throwing sticks and poking it? (or in other words angering it)
It looks like this;
Funny enough, there are actually two different 'banana spiders'. The 'banana spider' you found is actually called a
golden silk orb-weaver. Golden silk orb-weaver spiders are harmless to human beings. The 'banana spider' that's lethal is actually called a
Brazilian wandering spider. They both go by the same informal name 'banana spider' but they're actually much different. The Brazilian wandering spider is in a completely different taxonomic family and possesses much different physical characteristics.
Below you see an image of a Brazilian wandering spider, which is a much different size, shape, and color than the spider pictured in OP's post.
Funny enough, the Brazilian wandering spider produces a unique type of venom called 'phoneutria nigiventer toxin-3' that among other things causes male human bite victims to get incredibly painful erections lasting hours.
EDIT:
sorry guys turns out people were being asshats and there's two types of banana spiders
i have the harmless one
never mind then.
