Overview of Spider Species in the United States
Mangora gibberosa, the lined orbweaver, is a common spider found throughout the eastern part of North America. One of the main characteristics of the lined orbweaver is its special web-style. The webs ob Mangora gibberosa have an inner circle that is spun with thicker silk, forming a white ring around the web’s center. Description The […]
The bowl and doily spiders, known as Frontinella pyramitela, are a small species of spiders that belong to the family of Linyphiidae. The common name of these spiders comes from its peculiar webs that have a bowl shape with a sheet-web or blanket (doily) beneath it. Like other sheet web weavers, Frotinella pyramitela spiders can […]
Micrathena gracilis, commonly known as spined micrathena, is one of the spiny orb weaver spiders. The spiny body serves to protect them from birds, lizards or other predators. The hard spines should hurt predators when dealing a bite. These easy to recognize, unobtrusive forest denizens are abundant throughout the Eastern United States and especially common […]
The spider species Micrathena mitrata, commonly called white micrathena, is an orb weaving spider. They have a large bulbous white abdomen with spines and black markings and are found throughout the Eastern United States as well as Central and South America. Description The white micrathena has a brown and small cephalothorax (head) and legs and […]
The arrow-head spider, Verrucosa arenata, is an orb-weaver spider found throughout the United States. Its common name arrowhead spider or triangle orb weaver comes from the triangle-shaped yellow or white coloration on the spiders’ abdomen. Arrow-Shaped Orbweaver Description Verrucosa arenata are generally easy to distinguish from similar orb weavers because of their special color pattern and […]
The arrow-shaped orb weaver, Micrathena sagittata, is a strange-looking, arrow-shaped spider that is commonly found in gardens of the Eastern United States. The spider’s abdomen is large and yellow with two large red and black spines on its back. Its specific name “sagittata” is Latin for “arrowed” and it refers to the shape of the abdomen. Arrow-Shaped […]
Metaltella simoni is a spider species that is commonly often referred to as hacklemesh weaver. This may lead to confusion with some spiders of the genus Amaurobius which are also referred to as hacklemesh weavers and often have a similar appearance. Therefore, we will restrict to the usage of the specific name in this guide which […]
The red-backed jumping spider, Phidippus johnsoni, is found throughout the Western United States and Canada. The spider has a black body and the back of its abdomen is bright red. Description of the Red-Backed Jumping Spider The redbacked jumping spider is generally quite easy to identify. It’s body is predominantly black with a brightly red […]
The gray house spider, Badmuna longinqua, is a medium sized black and gray spider originally native to Australia. It has been introduced to New Zealand, South America, Europe, South Africa and the United States. Despite the reputation of Australian spiders, the grey house spider is harmless for humans and larger pets. Due to its secretive […]
The spinybacked orbweaver is a small harmless spider with six characteristic spines along the back of its abdomen. It can come in a variety of colors. The native range of this species is throughout the Southern United States, Central America and the Caribbean. The spiny backed orb weaver has also been introduced to Hawaii and […]
