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ORB
WEAVERS/GARDEN SPIDERS |
 Orb weavers (Araneidae) are
often brightly coloured with
rounded abdomens, some with
peculiarly angled humps or
spines. However, there is
considerable variation in size,
colour and shape in this group.
They are often recognized for
building beautiful, large, round
webs, on which they rest, head
downward, waiting for prey.
The webs consist of a number
of radiating threads crossed by
two spirals. The inner spiral
begins in the centre, winds
outward, and is made of smooth
threads like the radiating
threads. It covers only the
central 1/3 of the web. The outer spiral begins at the edges
and winds inward. It is made of more elastic, sticky threads, coated with a liquid substance.
One of the largest and most commonly encountered members of this group is Argiope aurantia, the yellow garden spider
and we have photos of them on their own page.
Please select a section below.
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MARBLED ORB WEAVERS |
1 February, 2005:
I found her on my sliding glass door. Thought she was
beautiful and wanted to share her with everyone.
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21 December, 2004:
Hi Glen,
I live in Stafford, Virginia. This spider to a ride on my business
van one day in the summer. We traveled about 75 miles and he hung on
the entire trip. Do you know what kind of spider he is? Thanks!
Judy May |
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21
November, 2004:
Please see attached picture of a beautiful Marbled Orb Weaver
that I took on 11/20/2004. Thought you may be interested in seeing
it.
Russell Farmer
Age 12
385 Wyldewoode Drive
McDonough, GA 30253Click for a
larger view. |
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20
November, 2004:
My husband found this girl under my ivy plants. We've never
seen a spider like this before in Ne. PA. Thanks for such a great
site.
Rich & Barberence.
Carolyn Rafferty |
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4
November, 2004:
Hi, My boys brought this spider to my attention at our
campsite in Fredericksburg, VA. I took a picture of it as I had
never seen anything quite so huge, yellow, or beautiful in spider
terms. We think it looks like an orb weaver. We saw a couple on your
site that looked similar but nothing exactly like it. The wood it is
on is picnic table and approx inches high for frame of reference.
Carolyn Rafferty |
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3
November, 2004:
Here is a pic of a spider I found on a hike in Maryland. The body
shape and leg colouring look similar to spiders I find in my
backyard, but I’ve never seen the yellow/black body. Can you shed
any light on this?
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3
November, 2004:
Photographed clinging to outside trim boards of front door in Belle
Haven Terrace (Fairfax County) Virginia, 2 Nov 05.
Temperature: 70F, Low humidity, Sunny and breezy
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1
November, 2004:
Found in Lewisberry, PA. Oct 29, 2004.
Click for a larger view.
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1
November, 2004:
Can you identify this spider... It was in my front yard in
Virginia. The eastern shore, please get back to me if you can
identify this spider.
Thanks,
John |
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31
October, 2004:
Thought you might appreciate this guy we found “hanging
around” the corner of my son’s porch.
Click for a larger view.
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30
October, 2004:
This little guy was found 4 days before Halloween in Indiana,
quite festive really. The best I can figure is it is an orb weaver,
otherwise just very interesting. Is this correct? Thanks
Andrwe |
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23
October, 2004:
Attached Pic of garden orb Weaver taken today. I Like the
death's head marking on the stomach.
Elaine Hoy
Reply: This is a marbled orb weaver. |
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21
October, 2004:
Saw this spider, but not seeing one like it totally on the
site - any idea what it is?
Reply: This is a marbled orb weaver. |
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23
September, 2004
Hi Glen, I found your website while seaching Google for
spiders. My husband found this spider while painting the house
yesterday and today he found another on on the other side of the
house. I did notice the photos at the top of your web page the
fifth spider over looks the same. Is this a Bolas spider?
Please respond when you have a moment.
Thank you, Lori Quaderer
Johnsburg, IL
Reply: This is a marbled orb weaver. |
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23
September, 2004
Glen,
I'm trying to identify this spider found at my daughter's house.
Thank you.
Lesa
Reply: This is a marbled orb weaver. |
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22
September, 2004
Hi there, Here is a couple photos of a spider living outside
on my front porch. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. She is
much brighter in "real-life", her abdomen is a bright yellow, and
her legs are bright orange, almost neon colors. Her abdomen appears
to be oval in the picture, but it is really very fat and round. It's
over an inch long. If anyone knows what kind of spider this is, or
if it is dangerous, please let me know.
I'm in Caledonia, Ontario.
Reply: This is a marbled orb weaver. |
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22
September, 2004
Could you help me by telling me where I could identify this
spider. It was on my porch in Knoxville, TN.
Thank you.
Lesa
Reply: This is a marbled orb weaver. |
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16
September, 2004
While my coworkers and I were outside enjoying the sun at
lunch time we spotted this gorgeous spider, we are hoping that you
could help us identify it. We are located in Avon, Connecticut.
Thank you,
Jennifer
Reply: This is a marbled orb weaver. |
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15
September, 2004
My name is Kyle Snedeker. I found this spider on September 14
2004, in north east PA in a small town called Brooklyn. I work in a
stone quarry, and I found the spider on one of my pallets. Can you
please help identify this spider? My email address is
TheCarsThatBOOM@hotmail.com
Thank you
Kyle
Reply: This is a marbled orb weaver. |
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5
September, 2004
I found this spider on my trailer at my campsite in Exeter,
Rhode Island.
Reply: This is a marbled orb weaver. |
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30 August, 2004
Hi,
I need help identifying this spider. I live in Frederick County,
Maryland (USA). I found this spider and two other s just like it out
side my house. They are a little bigger than the top of your thumb.
(tip of thumb to knuckle). They have a yellow and black pattern on
the top of their abdomens and legs that are reddish orange near
their bodies and black and clearish striped in the middle and tips
of their legs. I have never seen these before. I am very curious to
find out what they are. They also have big strong webs. The one web
was about 2' to 3' feet in diameter. The spider was also very feisty
when trying to take pictures of it. I have 4 children so I would
really like to know if it is poisonous. Please look at the pictures
following. - Thanks, KD in MD
Reply: Looks like a marbled orb
weaver. |
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29 August, 2004
Your site is one of the best I've found on this so far. Like
most, I have a spider that I can not identify. In the very
least it may be a good one to add to the site. This was found
on my backpack during a hike in Cheaha, AL.
Reply: This is another marbled
orb weaver. |
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29 August, 2004
I was wondering if you could post these pictures on your
website, I was mowing the lawn in my home in upstate New York when I
stumbled upon this spider. I was wondering if anyone could help me
identify it also if they could tell me if it is dangerous. Anything
would help. Thank you for your time.
Amanda Leon
aleon65@yahoo.com
Reply: This is a marbled orb
weaver. |
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8 August, 2004
Hello!
After using the information on your site to identify these
spiders as marbled orb weavers, we thought that you would like to
have some pictures of them. The larger one has created a beautiful
web in the bedroom window, while the ones on the plate were found in
a nest under a porch umbrella. The nest looked a lot like a cigar
made out of mud, and at first we thought it was a bee’s nest, but
when it was opened, we found a whole nest of the marbled orb
weavers! There is one smaller than all the rest, and the entire body
is neon green, could you maybe explain why that is? Was this one
just not as developed as the rest? Any help you could give would be
greatly appreciated, thanks so much, we hope you enjoy the
pictures!!!
Lauren Kountz and Jess Zitowitz,
Clarksville, Maryland |
Reply: There seems to be a couple
of different sorts in the first pic. I once had another mud nest
like this sent in and it seemed that it was a wasps nest and the
spiders had been brought in as food for the baby wasps, so I wonder
if this is what has happened here. I don't think marbled orbweavers
build mud nests for the spiderlings |
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17 November, 2003:
Are Marbled Orb Weaver spider dangerous:
Attached is one of them photographed in “Chatahoochee park in
Atlanta”
Best Regards
Benjamin & Guillemette CARRIER |
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7 October, 2003:
The spider from oct 3rd 2003 on your ORB WEAVERS/GARDEN
SPIDERS page ,that you were missing a name for looks to be a Marbled
Orb Weaver Araneus marmoreus from what I can tell. Here is a photo I
took of one. |
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4 October, 2003:
can you tell me what this is and is it dangerous? thank you so much
for you time!
7 October, 2003:
Reply: Looks to be a
marbled orb weaver. |
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11 November, 2001: Found
this guy crawling up my basement wall. Thanks to your website, I was
able to identify him.
Thanks,
Webb Riley
Suwanee, GA
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Here's another Marbled Orb
Weaver. Pretty aren't they? 26
October, 2001
Here's 1 more spider pix , I took this one 2 days ago, thanks for a
great web site ,
Robert Vess
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13
September, 2001:
The spider with the orange legs and yellow and black marble body is
a marbled orb weaver. From: Bryce Saunders, Aiken, South Carolina.
4 September, 2001:
This spider is from New Hampshire, USA, from Mark
(Click for a beaut closeup)
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9 October, 2001:
Found this fearsome looking one near a bench on the deck. Does
not mind full sun. We live in the Pocono Mountains, Pa. I see
someone found one in NH too.
Marci Marcantonio
PS, just found a response about this one further down your page:
13 September, 2001:
The spider with the orange legs and yellow and
black
marble body is a marbled orb weaver. From: Bryce
Saunders, Aiken, South Carolina. But my next question is, "do
they bite humans or pets or in any way cause a negative physical
reaction? Thought you might like to see the photos I took anyway.
marci |
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Commonly called the marbled spider,
this species belongs to one of several genera of orb or orb weaver
spiders that frequently
are found as adults on or around houses and other buildings from
late summer to fall. Adult female marbled spiders are 9-18mm long;
some other orb spiders are smaller and some larger. Most species
live one year, but some survive longer. Orb spiders are not
aggressive and, like the vast majority of spiders, are not dangerous
to people. Bites are rare and usually are no worse than a bee or
wasp sting. |
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SHAMROCK ORB WEAVERS
(top) |
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Reply:
That looks like Araneus
trifolium, the shamrock spider, too.
24
October, 2004:
My The most beautiful
spider....but what is it? |
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Reply:
That is Araneus
trifolium, the shamrock spider.
Nathan Hepworth
24
October, 2004:
My daughter found this
spider in our driveway last Sunday. We have never seen anything like
this before. What is it? Julie |
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12 September, 2004
I live in Brampton, Ontario. This spider is on a web in the
front of my house. I am teriffied of spiders and i want my husband
to get rid of it but i want to make sure that it is not harmfull.
Please let me know
Thanks for your help
Misty Sturman
Reply: Looks
like a shamrock orb weaver. |
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30 August, 2004
Hi, We found this spider at a relatives cottage in Nova
Scotia, Canada. It's all curled up in this picture. Any idea what it
is? In this picture, the spider was about 3/4 inch to one inch long.
Thanks in advanceReply: Looks
like a shamrock orb weaver. |
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7 November, 2003:
I was told by an entomologist that it's a 'Shamrock Spider',
an Orb Weaver. I did release it in a large woodpile , maybe she'll
lay her eggs now. Thanks .
James |
4 November, 2003:
Hello,
I just found your website, and saw your invitation to send you some
spider pics for ID.. here are a couple of pics of a brown spider,
with the general body shape of a Black Widow, the length is
approximately one half inch (body), and approx. 1.5" including legs.
Has some very nice fangs, can't really see them in the picture. I
still have him in a terrarium, he's a prolific web spinner. I have
no idea what species this is. The only other large web spinning
spiders here (Springfield, Massachusetts , USA ) are Golden Garden
spiders, which are slightly larger than this species, and some
species of jumping spider, which builds a web, but will actually
jump out of the web to capture nearby insects. I've seen it. I'd
appreciate you ID, or guess. The markings on the abdomen are very
distinctive.
James Gavioli
Westfield, MA |
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OTHER & UNIDENTIFIED ORB WEAVERS
(top) |
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1 November, 2004:
I saw this spider at a local
gas station, approx. 50-75 feet from the Fox River in Northern
Illinois, coming out of a garbage can...It is (was, sorry) approx.
1"-1.5" in diameter. I am just curious as I have never seen anything
like this before. So if you can, pleas ID it for me!!? Thanks!!!
James Watrach
Internet Sales Manager
JimW@EFabPCB.com |
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18 September, 2004:
Hi my name is Alex. I would like to know if you can identify
this spider for me. I'm not really into the thing but with this one
I'm interested. I don't think it is the name i gave it after my
research |
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27 August, 2004
Hi,
I live in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. My dad found a spider in our
back yard while taking down a fence. Haven’t a clue what it is. It
is sitting on a ¾” thick board.
Shaun Quigg, L.A.T.
Landscape Architectural Technologist |
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8 November, 2003:
Reply:
Regarding the orb weaver spider shot submitted on Oct 5, 2003, we at
The Francis Beidler Forest in Four Holes Swamp near Harleyville, SC
have decided on: Neoscona domiciliorum) There doesn't apprear to be
a common name, so we use Red-femured Spotted Orbweaver.
Mark |
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5 October, 2003:
Just got a shot of a beautiful spider - barn orb weaver I
think. He definitely wasn't in a barn , just under the porch. Boy
have these guys been around this summer in Foley, AL.
Rosalie Wolfe |
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16 June, 2003:
Here is a picture of a Labyrinth Spider, Metepeira.
This orb weaver doesn't hang out in the centre of her web, she
builds a little house of sticks which is connected to the web
with guy lines. She will leave her
shelter to capture prey. This picture shows a Metepeira snuggled up
in her shelter. Happily, I found one of her offspring yesterday, and
hope to get some pix with prey.
barb |
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14 June, 2003:
Just thought you might want to post this picture of a
Star-bellied Orb Weaver with a Junebug. Photo taken in
NE Pennsylvania a few days ago. I guess this spider is
well distributed across the USA.
Regards,
Jim |
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9 March,
2003:
Hello,
I'm attaching an image (that I just took) of an orb weaver... at
least I think that's what it is. I did some research on the web and
found that the Araneus diadematus may be found literally everywhere;
but I found no mention of the "weaver" found in the San Francisco
Bay Area. I live in the city of Hayward, about 30 miles from
downtown San Francisco. Can you help me identify if this is an
Araneus diadematus?
Sincerely,
James E. Ryan |
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29 September, 2002:
Found this little female orb weaver here in
west Texas. I have not been able to locate any specific variety
name, nor have I seen this color variety online anywhere. Any
thoughts? I have higher resolution photos if you would like to see
them. The web is a typical spiraling orb web, hole cutout at
the center, no zigzags or other ornamentations.
Steve Anderson, EE
high_voltage_fun@hotmail.com |
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3 July, 2003:
Reply:
The two photos by Barry from Sept. 18, 2002 (excluding
the sideways photo of Argiope aurantia) are of Mecynogea
lemniscata (basilica orbweaver):
http://floridanature.org/species.asp?species=Mecynogea_lemniscata
Josh Hillman, FloridaNature.org |
8
September, 2002:
Since moving into a my house about 8 months ago...I have seen
all sorts of spiders that I never saw before. I noticed this spider
(argiope1.jpg) in my shrubs just a couple of weeks ago and was
concerned it might be poisonous but was amazed at the unique web it
had spun. After finding this web site and identifying it as a St
Andrew's Cross spider, my interest for spiders that I lost in my
childhood suddenly returned. I'm not sure exactly what the other
spider is. Looks similar in shape. Is sitting on an inch long
cylinder ... maybe an egg sac? Just wanted to share my find and
story w/ you.
Barry
Durham, NC USA |
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