Their abdomen is brown and hairy, and their legs have an alternating pattern of light and dark brown bands
Could you imagine having eight eyes? This photo is of a spotted orbweaver, which like many spiders has eight eyes. This species of spider is primarily nocturnal and uses all its eyes to see its prey at night. Females will become diurnal during the fall. Commonly found throughout the United States and Mexico, this spider goes by many names: Hentz orbweaver, barn spider, and its scientific name Neoscona crucifera.
Females of this species grow to be between 10 and 19 mm long. The males tend to be somewhat smaller than the female. Their abdomen is brown and hairy, and their legs have an alternating pattern of light and dark brown bands. The underside of the abdomen is dark with two white spots. The body overall tends to be rusty, red or golden orange in color.
Spotted orbweavers form large webs that can be upwards of two feet in diameter. They will lay their egg sack in fluffy yellow threads near to the web. The AAC may contain up to one thousand eggs. These eggs are often preyed upon by mud daubers. When provoked spotted orbweavers will bite. Thankfully, their venom is not dangerous to humans.
Spotted orbweavers belong to the family Araneidae. There are 3,100 species in this family of spiders and over 186 genera worldwide. The webs in this family of spiders are constructed with a framework of a non-sticky silk that is built up before a final layer of a spiral of sticky silk is appended. Many orbweavers will create a new web every day. During the evening it will consume the old web, rest for an hour, and then spin a new web.
There are 3,100 species in this family of spiders and over 186 genera worldwide
Did you know?
- There are some orbweavers that do not build webs. Some build silky globules that they dangle in front of their legs. They will use a pheromone to attract male moths which become stuck in the globule. Consider this a spider’s form of fishing!
- One species oforbweaver is more than 140 million years old.
- Sexual cannibalism is common throughout the Araneidae family.
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