It's that time of the year again. Time for...Jorou gumo![/日本語]
These little buggers freaked me out quite a bit last year as I ran into them on several occassions. They errected some webs near the cafeteria at my high school, and seemed to rule quietly and creepily over a stretch of highway in the mountains near Nagasaki. Luckily the couple times I lived in Kanto I was never around for their life cycle. They seem to pop up around late summer and hang around until late fall or early winter.
From what I can tell, they aren't horribly dangerous. They're venomous, but not life-threateningly so. But man, are they creeeepy. I mean, look at those colors - black and yellow, and females have red blotches on their abdomens. That's the kind of spider that in my mind bites you and gives you mutant superpowers. Or kills you.
Autumn is my favorite season in Japan, but I could certainly do without these little guys.
