Leucauge venusta – Orchard Spider

Leucauge venusta Colorful orchard spider

Leucauge venusta, commonly called orchard spider is an orb weaver spider that can be found in the Eastern US states, Canada and Central America. Unlike many other orb weavers, the orchard spider is a very colorful spider.

Leucauge venusta Colorful orchard spider
The colorful orchard spider. Photo: Jennifer Wolf – Berrien Springs, Michigan

Orchard spider description

The abdomen is elongated and is silvery or white with colored markings. Those markings can be Green, Yellow, Black, Orange, and sometimes pink spots. The Cephalothorax is a light green/yellow with brown stripes on the sides. The legs are a bright leafy green.

Check out this video of an orchard spider catching a carpenter ant in its web:

Size

The females’ body will grow to just under 5/16” (7 mm) and if the legs are included, it can reach a size of almost ¾” (19 mm).

Leugauge venusta orchard spider with web and prey seen from bottom
An orchard spider from below with prey in its web. Photo: Anne from Fairfax, Virginia

Orchard Spider Bite

The bite of the entire orb weaver family of spiders is not dangerous for humans. The orchard spider is a rather timid spider and will not attack unless it feels threatened. In the rare occasion where a bite happens, it might lead to minor swellings or discomfort.

Scientific Classification of Leucauge venusta

  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Chelicerata
  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infraorder: Araneomorphae
  • Family: Tetragnathidae
  • Genus: Leucauge
  • Species: Leucauge venusta

Common Names

Orchard orb weaver, orchard spider.

Distribution of the Orchard Spider in the USA

Leucauge venusta – Orchard Spider range

The Orchard Orb Weaver occurs in states along the East Coast into Central US: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

Leucauge venusta – Orchard Spider

47 thoughts on “Leucauge venusta – Orchard Spider

  1. Towards the top, checked in red with air pointing to it.

    Gangly, thin, about 3/4 to 1 inch long

    Narrow

    Can’t tell if seeing belly or back

    Appears this could be the belly.

    Marking looks like u shaped magnet

    Many rowed round orderly web super fine doesn’t show in pic

    Many thanks

  2. Found in my kitchen in central New Hampshire. I never saw one in such a pretty emerald green, but so very skinny that it’s color was hard to make out unless the light hits it just right. Also had a rusty orange area on its middle area.

  3. Hoping for help identifying this spider. Spider found in kitchen, near door to deck of house in wooded area. Cortlandt, NY

  4. We are in Tennessee. This guy’s body is about 1cm long. Legs and body together measure about 1 inch. Active in the middle of the day. Legs are dark in multiple shades. Body is white with black lines and a bit of yellow at the end. Any ideas?

  5. Found it outside by my water hose. Found it to be very pretty so i took a few pics.

    It’s got a yellow-orange oval abdomen with long green legs. 4 of its legs were at the front of its body and the other 4 in the rear.

    Found in Oak Park, Illinois.

  6. In the deep South Louisiana. This spider showed up over the weekend when we were on vacation and has made a HUGE tangled web around the right side of my porch. It’s legs are mostly a uniformed teal/green color with the back two legs the length of the body and the front four are almost three times the length of the body. The body is all sorts of neon colors. So pretty yet I still want it gone!!! I want to see if anyone knows what kind of spider this is. I have looked over so many sites with zero answers or hints.

  7. Quite small green spider, unfortunately photo is of the bottom. It has some very distinctive comb type structures on the rear two legs that I’ve never heard of or seen on a spider. It had very little web – just a strand or two that it was on while eating something even tinier.
    Nashville, TN area.

  8. Requesting ID of this spider.
    Small 1/2 to 3/4 inch total size orb weaver with eyes. Moves quickly with jerky motion when you approach it. There were several of these spiders in our hedges. Red markings look orange in the photo.
    Photograph taken early September 2021 in Warner Robins GA.

  9. Found outside. Large oval web going from one tree to the next.

    About 1-2 inches. Black with red markings but not hour glass shaped.

  10. Please identify this very small spider, found indoors, and has remained in the same spot for hours, but is alive. (Cary, NC) it may be quite common but I’ve never known a live spider to remain still for so long.
    Thanks,
    Judy

  11. I found an orchard orb spider at my front porch after waking out my door, and through the unseen web. Very unique creature.

  12. Please help identify. Iridescent silver/green stripes, dark body, greenish legs, messy nest, in Michigan.

  13. Hi! This attractive girl(?) built a web on our small patio table.. she was so beautifully marked I had to take a few pics & vids. I could tell I was freaking her out so I backed off to give her privacy. I was bummed when a couple of days later she was gone; I hope she just moved on & wasn’t a meal for someone. This was in Fort Wayne, IN. Thanks so much!

  14. Found the guy on my deck – can you identify it. I’ll attach to top of the spider qand in the next email I’ll sent the bottom.

    1. Found this in the basement of my home. I’ve seen this same type of spider many times while living here. Haven’t noticed any webs of any kind. Not a *super* great picture because my phone camera isn’t amazing. Hopefully you can zoom in for a better look. Its body is probably about a half inch long or so.

  15. Found this very interesting spider at work. I never kill spiders, I always carefully relocate them to safe place. But I’m not sure what kind of spider this is.

  16. This spider was in my roses in southern South Carolina. I’m thinking an orchard orb but would love to know for sure and for sure that it’s not a widow. Thank you!

  17. Spotted at Boyd Hill Park in St. Petersburg, FL.
    Small, maybe 0.5in.
    Love the colors, but not sure what it is.

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