Overview of Spider Species in the United States
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 […]
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 silver garden spider, Argiope argentata, is a common orb weaver in the warm and humid regions in the Southern United States, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. It spins large, orb shaped webs to catch flying insects. As other Argiope spiders, the silver garden spider is often seen in the center of the […]
The western spotted orb weaver, Neoscona oaxacensis, is a large orb weaving spider found in the Southwestern United States and throughout Central and South America. In the United States, this large, dark-colored orb weaver is most commonly found in grape fields in California. Western Spotted Orbweaver Description While the spider can appear in a number […]
The tropical orb weaver, Eriophora ravilla, is a harmless orb weaver spider found throughout the tropical areas of the Americas from Florida along the Guld Coast, throughout Central America, the Caribbean Islands and Northern South America. Tropical Orbweaver Description The tropical orb weaver can come in a variety of colors and is therefore often hard […]
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 […]
Latrodectus mactans, the Southern black widow is a close relative of the Northern black widow and the Western black widow. The female of all three species is mostly black with a distinctive red hourglass pattern on the underside of its abdomen. They can inject a potent venom with their bite with potential severe medical effects. […]
Latrodectus, the black widow spider is one of the most famed and feared spider genera in the world. Hollywood tends to use only one kind of Black Widow in its films. It is always shown as a shiny black spider with a red hourglass on the dorsal side of its abdomen. However, this is not […]
Latrodectus hesperus, the Western black widow spider is one of the few medically significant venomous spiders in the United States. As its common name suggests, it can be found in the Western States of the US as well as in Canada. Description of the Western Black Widow The larger female Western black widow looks very […]
