Orb Weaver Spider

Orb Weaver SpidersCreated by Louis and Casey

What is the Orb Weaver?The Orb Weaver Spider belongs to the Araneidae family. This spider is commonly found in fields, forests, and often your own garden. The Orb Weavers have eight eyes, that are in two horizontal rows of four. They also have eight legs that are often hairy or spiny. The Araneidae spider family is the third most common spider family known in the world.

Our habitat gardenThe certain type of Orb Weaver that lives in our habitat garden is the European garden spider, also called the Cross Spider. The Latin name for this spider is Araneus Diadematus. Their size, shape, and color varies between the spiders. These spiders are patterned distinctly. The reason they are called cross spiders is because most on their abdomen they have a pattern like a cross.

More about Orb WeaversCross spiders are approximately 13 mm in body length each. They can be easily recognized by their large webs, which most spiders make in the form of an orb. The Cross Spider is usually colored light red and orange to gray.The Araneus Diadematus was brought to the USA from Europe. The Cross Spider eats invertebrate, which it catches in its web. These include flies and mosquitos. The males are more unusual to see, and smaller than the female spiders.

CrossSpider FACTS

FACTS ABOUT CROSS SPIDERSThe orb weavers web is about forty centimeters in diameter. A baby Cross Spider has one black dot on its abdomen, but the color changes as they grow up. These spiders come out in late summer and early fall. Female Cross Spiders produce their own silky, stringy silk. A female spider will produce somewhere from 300 up to 900 eggs! Most eggs are laid in dead tree bark or cracks and other narrow paths. During the daytime, many orb weavers hide from any predators that may be lurking around. They come out at night and build webs for food.

THE ORB WEB