The spider species Araneus diadematus is commonly called the European garden spider, diadem spider, orangie, cross spider and crowned orb weaver. It is sometimes called the pumpkin spider, although this name is also used for a different species, Araneus marmoreus. It is an orb-weaver spider found in Europe and North America.
The Australian garden orb weaver spider is a very common species of spider with many variants in size, shape, and colour across the coastal regions of Australia. They have very large abdomens when well-fed and exhibit a tremendous colour-range from off-white through tan, brown to almost black. They have a roughly leaf-shaped pattern on the top of their abdomen with a complex outline that is darker than the surrounding area. There may also be several whitish spots or one or more stripes. The spiders' cephalothoraxes (heads) and proximal leg segments are usually darker, mostly reddish or reddish brown. They are able to change their colour with each moult to better match the background upon which they rest during the day.
Austracantha is a genus of spider with a single species, Austracantha minax, commonly known as the jewel spider or the Christmas spider. It is a member of the family Araneidae and is endemic to Australia. They are relatively small spiders, reaching a maximum total body length of only around 12 mm (0.47 in) for females, and 5 mm (0.20 in) for males. Their abdomen has six distinctive projections ("spines") that makes them easy to identify. They are predominantly a shiny black, with variable white, yellow, and orange patterns. Melanistic forms also occur during autumn. They are facultatively gregarious, and can be found in large aggregations of overlapping orb webs. They feed on small flying insects that get entangled in their webs. They are harmless to humans, though the webs can be a nuisance for bushwalkers. They are most abundant during the summer months.
Araneus quadratus, the four-spot orb-weaver, is a common orb-weaver spider found in Europe and Central Asia, and as far as the Kamchatka Peninsula and Japan. Females can reach 17 mm in length, especially when gravid, males approximately half that. They are quite variable in appearance, ranging from brown to bright orange or green, but they always have the characteristic four white spots on the abdomen. The darker color morphs are easier to identify, due to the contrast between the white spots and the rest of the body. The legs are sometimes brightly striped.
Nuctenea umbratica, the walnut orb-weaver spider, is a species of spider in the family Araneidae.
Larinioides cornutus, the furrow spider, furrow orb spider, or foliate spider is an orb-weaver spider with Holarctic distribution.
Gasteracantha cancriformis is a species of orb-weaver spider. It is widely distributed in the New World.
Kaira, sometimes called frilled orbweavers, is a mostly neotropical genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by O. Pickard-Cambridge in 1889. It includes sixteen described species that occur from South America up to the southern and eastern USA. It is presumably related to Aculepeira, Amazonepeira and Metepeira.
Araneus marmoreus, commonly called the marbled orb-weaver, is a species of spider belonging to the family Araneidae. It is sometimes also called the pumpkin spider from the resemblance of the female's inflated abdomen to an orange pumpkin. It has a Holarctic distribution.
Plebs bradleyi, synonym Araneus bradleyi, is a spider in the orb-weaver family Araneidae. Known as the enamelled spider, it is a common Australian spider. It occurs in Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
Arachnura higginsi, known as the tailed spider or scorpion tailed spider and the scorpion orb weaver, is a common Australian spider belonging to the family Araneidae. It occurs in many parts of Australia.
Neoscona crucifera is an orb-weaver spider in the family Araneidae. It is found in the United States from Maine to Florida in the east, to Minnesota in the Midwest, to Arizona in the southwest, and in Mexico. Its common names include Hentz orbweaver (after Nicholas Marcellus Hentz, spotted orbweaver, and barn spider. The name "barn spider" is also commonly used for a different spider, Araneus cavaticus.
Darwin's bark spider is an orb-weaver spider that produces the largest known orb webs, ranging from 900 to 28,000 square centimetres, with bridge lines spanning up to 25 metres (82 ft). The spider was discovered in Madagascar in the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park in 2009. Its silk is the toughest biological material ever studied, over ten times tougher than a similarly-sized piece of Kevlar. The species was named in honour of the naturalist Charles Darwin, with the description being prepared precisely 150 years after the publication of The Origin of Species, on 24 November 2009.
Araneus mitificus, commonly known as the kidney garden spider or pale orb weaver, is a species of orb-weaver spider found in South, East, and Southeast Asia.
The spider species Plebs eburnus is commonly referred to as the eastern grass orb-weaver or the eastern bush orb-weaver, and sometimes more simply as the bush orb-weaver. It is an orb-weaver spider from the family Araneidae endemic to Australia. It is a very common spider with distinctive white markings, which give it the species name eburnus pertaining to ivory. It is found in scrub and tall grasses where the female constructs a vertical web usually no more than 2 metres from the ground, and stays there day and night. The web of some of these spiders has been seen to be decorated with nearly vertical stabilimentum. The stabilimentum of the related P.cyphoxis is usually observed vertical.
Verrucosa arenata, also known as the triangle orb weaver, arrowhead spider, and arrowhead orbweaver, is a species of orb-weaver spider found across North America. It is one of the few known large orb-weaver spiders that sits facing upwards in its web. Unlike most orb-weavers, which have bulbous abdomens, V. arenata has an abdomen that is pointy and triangular, shaped like the tip of an arrow. In females, the abdomen is colored white or yellow. Additionally, V. arenata uses reeling behavior in order to capture its prey, as its webs are stronger than that of most other orb weavers. The genus name Verrucosa means "warty" in Latin, referring to the small wartlike bumps on the spider's abdomen, while the specific epithet arenata derives from Latin arena, meaning "sand".
Macracantha is a genus of Asian orb-weaver spiders recognized as containing a single species, Macracantha arcuata. Macracantha is notable for the extremely long, curved spines on the abdomens of female members of the genus; Eugène Simon created the taxon name from the Greek words μακρός and ἄκανθα (spine). It occurs from India and China through Southeast Asia to Borneo.
Tetragnatha versicolor is a species of long-jawed orb weaver in the spider family Tetragnathidae. It is found throughout North America, Canada, Central America, and Cuba, but are most common in the United States. T. versicolor is heavily concentrated in New England and the west coast in states like California and Washington. T. versicolor is considered a habitat generalist, and can thrive in many different environments. While they can be found in places like grasslands, wetlands, forests, etc., they prefer dryer areas like normal trees and shrubs. Unlike other spiders in the genus Tetragnatha, T. versicolor will rarely reside near aquatic environments. T. versicolor will typically be colored dark yellow or pale orange and average around 5 mm for males and 6.5 mm for females in length, which is very small for a spider. They are much longer than they are wide, making them very distinct. In addition, T. versicolor can be distinguished from other spiders in Tetragnatha by the distinct separation of the anterior/posterior eyes and the appearance of their reproductive organs. As an orb weaver spider, T. versicolor creates a web to hunt for prey. It will wait at night for prey to stumble into its web and use vibrational signals throughout the web to sense trapped prey. In terms of mating behavior, T. versicolor lacks a distinct courting ritual and will mate with any others in the proximity. Mating behavior is heavily affected by female mating history. In terms of interactions with humans, the bite of T. versicolor is venomous, but not known to cause significant harm.
Acusilas coccineus is a species of spider in the family Araneidae, found from India and China to Indonesia. In India particularly, it has been known by the synonym Phonognatha vicitraSherriffs, 1928, but this is based on a misidentification. In India, it is found in woodlands and among shrubs. It is a small orb-weaver.
Ordgarius monstrosus is a species of spider in the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae, found in Queensland, Australia. O. monstrosus is a bolas spider. Rather than using a web, adult females catch their prey by using a line with one or two sticky drops which they swing.
