Shadowmeld Photography

Running along fall leaves on the forest floor, an American Grass Spider attempts to find cover after being startled by a group of hikers. Though harmless to people, this fast-moving spider may catch someone off-guard if it scurries in front of them unexpectedly. Grass Spiders use speed to nab insects like grasshoppers that make contact with a funnel web without relying on silk to hold prey in place for consumption. Identifying exactly what kind of brown Grass Spider this is can be tricky, with a number of variations in the family, but the black dorsal lines and abdomen spots help narrow it down.

Spinning a web at the side of a house, a female Black and Yellow Garden Spider prepares to trap its next meal. For many gardens across the United States, the presence of this spider helps indicate vegetation is in good health, as the spider captures and devours pests that may gnaw on heirlooms or cause irreversible damage to leaves and stalks. While it may look scary, the Yellow Garden Spider is mostly harmless to adults and very rarely preys on anything larger than itself, with preference to small insects.