This Beautiful Kentucky Spider Comes With One Very Creepy Appalachian Legend

I'm part of a public Facebook group called Indiana Wildlife where contributors post images of animals they don't recognize. Most of the creatures are insects or arachnids, the latter more frequently than the former.

Orchard Orb Weaver Spiders

In a recent post (that I suddenly cannot locate), someone from central Indiana (the species is also quite plentiful in Kentucky) posted a collage of images of an orchard orb weaver. Often, with something like the orchard orb weaver, which is ornately designed, the question revolves around whether or not they are venomous. All orb weavers are harmless, but take a look at the orchard species and you'll see why someone might pose such a question.

Vibrant colors and designs always tend to make folks wary of the spider that bears them, but as long as you remember that the only venomous ones we have here in the U.S. are widow spiders and recluse spiders, you're fine.

Orchard Orb Weaver Folklore

In fact, the only way an orchard orb weaver can harm you at all doesn't even exist. Sounds crazy, but let me explain. There's an old Appalachian folk tale that claims that if you say your name next to an orchard orb weaver, and it spells your name in its web, you are going to die. Fun, fictional folklore, and that's all.

Orchard Orb Weaver in American Pop Culture

There are a couple of orchard orb weavers that became part of American pop culture. For one, it's the only species of spider classified by Charles Darwin. On an 1832 voyage aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, Darwin spent time studying a brightly colored specimen he'd collected in Brazil. The specimen, however, was "lost" for more than a century before being rediscovered by George Washington University researchers.

And then we have what are most likely the only eight-legged "astronauts" in history. In 1973, two orchard orb weavers were included as "passengers" aboard the Skylab 3 space station. Scientists wanted to see if they could spin their webs in the vacuum of space, and they could. Mission accomplished. (I'm not sure why this was necessary, but, if nothing else, it's made for an interesting segment of this story.)

Charlotte's Web

By the way, in case you were wondering since I mentioned that orb weavers could write, Charlotte from Charlotte's Web is a barn spider, another species of orb weaver. Interestingly, when Charlotte went to work, she wrote "SOME PIG," "HUMBLE," "TERRIFIC," and "RADIANT." She never mentioned Wilbur's name. Maybe Charlotte believed that old Appalachian folk tale.

This summer, if you run across an orchard orb weaver, don't head for the exits. Take a minute and watch it work. It could be the birth of a pastime.