Have you ever seen a spider with a shell?

[dconklin]

I have seen my fair share of spider varieties here from living on the river, believe me we have a ton of them! But I have seen this spider in the garden for weeks now that looks like it has a shell. It was weird because it looked almost like the shell wasn't his/hers the way it was behind it almost. It wasn't like a snail shell that covers a good portion of the body, but more or less looked like it only covered it's butt and looked more like it was dragging it around. So the first time I saw this spider moving, I thought it was caring it's dinner away from me (it made it's web right by my cucumbers and moves when I water them or pick them.)

It still had this shell looking thing on it a couple days ago (weeks later after first seeing it.) It was the weirdest thing I had seen! I haven't been able to get a good picture of it tho. Today when I went to pick cucumbers I noticed a weird spider sitting in the same web but no shell and had a striped body. No idea what to think, but it was quite weird!

Can a spider have a shell? In all my spider encounters I have never seen such a thing until this one.

 

[blueeyes]

I have never seen a spider with a shell and trust me I have seen my share. I was so curious I did a bit of a google search and I came up with a picture of a spined Macarathena spider . Is this what he looked like?

 

[ACSAPA]

Spiny orbweavers look like tiny crabs and they also appear to have a shell. They are almost as scary looking as the one Blueeyes posted.

 

[claudine]

Oh no, spiders again. The spider in the picture is one of the creepiest creatures I've ever seen. If I found it in my garden, I would close my eyes and run away. And I'm pretty sure that I would scream

 

[dconklin]

I have never seen a spider with a shell and trust me I have seen my share. I was so curious I did a bit of a google search and I came up with a picture of a spined Macarathena spider . Is this what he looked like?

It looked a lot like this one, only it looked like an all black shell. It was running up under my cucumber plants whenever I got too close so I wasn't able to get a picture of him. But just like in the picture here, the shell of the one I had didn't cover much of the body so it was the weirdest thing I had seen!

I wonder if they lose their shell or something tho because after weeks of me seeing him with a shell, I go out and there was a spider with a big body and had yellow and black stripes. It was sitting in his/her web and I didn't see the one with a shell anymore so I am wondering if it was the same spider.

 

[happyflowerlady]

I wonder if it could be some kind of an egg sack ? They are large, and look kind of like a shell on the back of the spider, and they drag it along a lot like you described.
I know that spiders are supposed to be a helpful garden creature, but I totally HATE them, too, and usually, I kill them when I see them crawling around somewhere. If one gets in my house, it is history for sure ! If it is actually in the garden, I do try to restrain myself, and leave it alone.
They are just creepy , ugly bugs....

 

[blueeyes]

Oh no, spiders again. The spider in the picture is one of the creepiest creatures I've ever seen. If I found it in my garden, I would close my eyes and run away. And I'm pretty sure that I would scream

You and me both, Claudine. I get spiders on my balcony quite often and as long as they stay on the outer side of the glass I let them be. If I saw one like this I would probably wake up the whole building complex with my scream...

 

[headfullofbees]

Horseshoe crabs are actually Chelicerata and not crustaceans, the same family as spiders and other arachnids.

 

[DonnaIReilly]

Oh my that's a creepy looking spider. I have seen pictures of spiders with shells but I have never seen one up close. I don't wish to either, lol. I am not a big fan of spiders.

 

[TheBrit]

Out here we have jumping spiders, not very big but they can give a nasty bite, if your susceptible, requiring anti-biotics and anti-biotic cream. Sorry you insect lovers but if I see one in the apartment it's a whack with my fly-swat or a size nine boot. It's them or me.

 

[Trellum]

I have never seen a spider with a shell and trust me I have seen my share. I was so curious I did a bit of a google search and I came up with a picture of a spined Macarathena spider . Is this what he looked like?

That looks gross, but there is something really odd about that ''shell''. I see some small circular objects attached to the shell, they look like little eggs. Could this me some sort of egg sack? It'd be interesting to see an spider like that - carrying around her valuable eggs on her back.

 

[Elizabeth]

Oh my gosh I hate spiders, I am really terrified but I live in the mountains so we have tons of them as well. I have seen some crazy looking spiders, and all different colors but I can't say I have ever seen a spider with a shell that's very interesting. I don't know if I vet want to see a spider with a shell but that's interesting you saw that.

 

[Meowmie]

We have wolf spiders where I live. They get fairly large, and the female carries an egg sack on her back. It's very smooth, but it does make me wonder if the 'shell' on those spiders aren't egg sacks.

I am not a spider lover, and when I see one with the egg sack, I go out of my way to take it down. I'm sorry but I just don't want to find even more spiders.

 

[titohunter]

I have never seen a spider with a shell and trust me I have seen my share. I was so curious I did a bit of a google search and I came up with a picture of a spined Macarathena spider . Is this what he looked like?

What in the world is that all about. You don't want that falling down your shirt. What the heck

 

[kammy]

If i said yes i would be lying and by the way i so despise that it would be a great delight if i never saw one of those things; they are really creepy.