I went to my new house today to meet an exterminator who was going to take care of some ants that have taken up residence under the house. 

While I was walking around the house, I noticed a spider in a bush on one side of the house.  I asked the exterminator, whom I suppose is an expert in these things, if he could identify it and he said that he didn’t know the real name of it, but locally they call them banana spiders.  He added that it would grow about three or four times bigger and indicated that it would be about as big as his hand.  He said that it was relatively harmless to humans, and they are good to have around to catch mosquitoes.

The picture I have here was taken with my cell phone and it is not very clear at all.  Apparently, this one is a baby.  It is only about an inch and a half across.  If this one survives and is still around when we move in, I’ll try to get a better picture.  In the meantime, if you are interested, here is a very good picture of a banana spider that I found and a little bit of information about them.

Link: photo
Link: information