Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
Nephila is a genus of araneomorph spiders noted for the impressive webs they weave. Nephila consists of numerous species found in warmer regions around the world, although some species formerly included in the genus have been moved to Trichonephila. They are commonly called golden silk orb-weavers, golden orb-weavers, giant wood spiders, or banana spiders.
Trichonephila clavipes, commonly known as the golden silk orb-weaver, golden silk spider, golden orb weaver spider or colloquially banana spider, is an orb-weaving spider species which inhabits forests and wooded areas ranging from the southern US to Argentina. It is indigenous to both continental North and South America. Known for the golden color of their silk, the large size of their females, and their distinctive red-brown and yellow coloring, T. clavipes construct large, asymmetrical circular webs attached to trees and low shrubs in woods to catch small- and medium-size flying prey, mostly insects. They are excellent web-builders, producing and utilizing seven different types of silk, and they subdue their prey by injecting them with venom, as opposed to related species which immobilize their prey by wrapping them in silk first. They are not known to be aggressive towards humans, only biting out of self-defense if touched, and their relatively harmless venom has a low toxicity, posing little health concern to healthy human adults. Due to their prevalence in forests, T. clavipes may be encountered by hikers.
The Entelegynae or entelegynes are a subgroup of araneomorph spiders, the largest of the two main groups into which the araneomorphs were traditionally divided. Females have a genital plate (epigynum) and a "flow through" fertilization system; males have complex palpal bulbs. Molecular phylogenetic studies have supported the monophyly of Entelegynae.
Nephila pilipes is a species of golden orb-web spider. It resides all over countries in East and Southeast Asia as well as Oceania. It is commonly found in primary and secondary forests and gardens. Females are large and grow to a body size of 30–50 mm, with males growing to 5–6 mm. It is the second largest of the orb-weaving spiders apart from the recently discovered Nephila komaci. The first, second, and fourth pairs of legs of juvenile females have dense hairy brushes, but these brushes disappear as the spider matures.
Nephilengys is a genus of tropical spiders of the family Nephilidae, consisting of two currently described species. The genus Nephilingis has been split off from this genus. Both genera have been called hermit spiders from the habit staying in their retreats during the day; the name eunuch spiders has been used for Nephilengys alone. Males may sever parts of their palpal bulbs after copulation.
Herennia is a genus of spiders in the family Nephilidae, found from India to northern Australia. While two species have been known since the 19th century, nine new species were described in 2005. Spiders in this genus are sometimes called coin spiders.
Nephilingis cruentata is an nephilid spider with a strikingly red sternum.
Nephilingis borbonica is an nephilid spider from Réunion. It was once thought to also inhabit Madagascar and other nearby islands, however these were determined in 2011 to be a different species, Nephilingis livida, while specimens from Mauritius were placed in the new species Nephilingis dodo.
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. Its tensile strength is 1.6 GPa. The species was named in honour of the naturalist Charles Darwin on November 24, 2009—precisely 150 years after the publication of The Origin of Species.
Mongolarachne is an extinct genus of spiders placed in the monogeneric family Mongolarachnidae. The genus contains only one species, Mongolarachne jurassica, described in 2013, which is presently the largest fossilized spider on record. The type species was originally described as Nephila jurassica and placed in the living genus Nephila which contains the golden silk orb-weavers.
Nephilingis livida is an nephilid spider from Madagascar and nearby islands. It was found to be separate from the related species Nephilingis borbonica in 2011
Nephilingis dodo is an nephilid spider endemic to Mauritius. It was found to be separate from the related species Nephilingis borbonica in 2011.
Herennia multipuncta, commonly known as the spotted coin spider, is a species of spider in the family Nephilidae native to Asia. It exhibits sexual dimorphism, the female being much larger than the male. It weaves a small web on the trunk of a tree or the wall of a building and is well camouflaged by its dappled colouration.
Caerostris, sometimes called bark spiders, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1868. Most species are found in south eastern Africa and neighboring Madagascar.
Nephilingis is a genus of spiders in the family Nephilidae. It was split off from the genus Nephilengys in 2006. Both genera have been called hermit spiders from the habit of staying in their retreats during the day; alternatively the name "hermit spider" may be reserved for Nephilingis, with Nephilengys species called "eunuch spiders".
Zygiella dispar is a species of orb weaver in the family of spiders known as Araneidae.
Artifex is a small genus of orb-weaver spiders native to tropical regions of mainland Australia and to New Caledonia. The genus was erected by R. J. Kallal and Gustavo Hormiga in 2018 to contain two species moved from different genera that have several synapomorphies, including an abdomen that extends past the spinnerets, widely separated spermathecae, and dorsal markings similar to those of Zygiellinae. The name is a combination of the Latin "ars", meaning "art", and "-fex", meaning "maker" in reference to the shelters they build out of leaves.
Trichonephila is a genus of golden orb-weaver spiders that was first described by Friedrich Dahl in 1911, as a subgenus of Nephila. Trichonephila was elevated to the level of genus by Kuntner et al. in 2019. The genus Trichonephila belongs to the Nephilidae family.
Cyrtarachne nagasakiensis is a species of spider in the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae, found in Pakistan, India, China, Korea and Japan. Spiders in the genus Cyrtarachne construct "spanning-thread webs" rather than the more typical orb webs of the family Araneidae. These webs have a small number of radii and instead of a tight spiral of sticky threads, the sticky spanning threads are widely spaced and do not form a spiral. When prey is caught on one of the spanning threads, one end comes loose, and the prey, often a moth, dangles from the other end until hauled in by the spider.
