Common North American Spiders

Common North American Spiders
Kingdom Animalia / Phylum Arthropoda / Subphylum Chelicerata / Class Arachnida
Spiders (Order Araneae) are the largest group in the class Arachnida. There are more than 35,000 described species worldwide, including about 3,000 in North America. Spiders are considered beneficial, keeping the insect population in check. The vast majority of spiders do not bite people, and are harmless. --Table of Contents--

New! Wolf Spider Pictures

Orb weaver - Argiope aurantia

Orb weaver - Argiope trifasciata

NEW! Nephila clavipes
Golden Silk Orbweaver

Long - jawed orb weavers

Orb weavers (Family Araneidae) comprise a huge family of spiders, of which there are several hundred species in North America. These spiders vary greatly in color, shape and size, measuring between 2 - 30mm (1/16 -- 1 1/4") long. They have eight eyes arranged in two horizontal rows of four eyes each. The males are generally much smaller than the females and commonly lack the showy coloring of their fairer sex. They often spin their own smaller orb web near an outlying portion of the female's, and I've noticed most males give the females wide berth. Indeed, I rarely see male orb weavers, they are so reclusive.

Orb Weaver
Neoscona arabesca

Cat-faced Spider

NEW! Lone Star Tick
Amblyomma americanum

Marbled Orb weaver

Most orb weavers spin spiraling webs on support lines that radiate outward from the center; the plane of the web may be vertical or horizontal or somewhere in between. Many of this family replace the entire web daily, spinning a new web in the early evening (this usually takes about an hour) and deconstructing the web each morning in a ritual almost as complex as the spinning process: they gather the silk into a ball and eat it for reprocessing. Our page on the Neoscona orb weaver has a series of pictures showing this process. I find them doing it only in the early morning, usually when the rising sun first illuminates the top of the web.

Shamrock Spider (variation) Araneus trifolium	Venusta Orchard Spider Leucauge venusta	Banded Argiope Argiope trifasciata	Spined Micrathena Micrathena gracilis	Feather legged Orb weaver Uloborus glomosus
Argiope aurantia male	Orb weaver Tetragnatha laboriosa	Orb weaver Mangora placida	Orb web with stabilimenta	Starbellied Orbweaver

Jumping spiders (Family Salticidae) get their name from the sometimes spectacular leaps they make when pouncing on prey or simply hopping about in the foliage. They are very small to medium sized spiders 3-15mm (1/8 -- 5/8") long. Their eight eyes are arranged in 3 rows - the first row near the midline contains the largest pair, which faces forward in the manner of predatory animals requiring binocular vision, and a second, smaller pair outboard of those, also facing forward and slightly upward. The second row of eyes is very mach smaller and facing upwards and only slightly forward. Our page on the bold jumping spider, Phidippus audax has many pictures showing the jumping spider's eye arrangement. The jumping spiders have the most acute eyesight of all spiders. Salticids do not build webs to snare prey, they only spin small silken retreat webs under leaves, bark or twigs. Our page on the Phidippus princeps species shows a spider in one of these webs. When hunting, jumpers always trail a silken strand from their spinnerets. If they are disturbed, they will rapidly descend on this lifeline to the ground and out of sight, or if they miss their jump, they can climb the thread back to their previous perch. These little guys are very adept at hiding, and if they do not want you to see them, you won't. They always watch me very carefully when I'm photographing them, and almost always face me, which accounts for all the similar poses you'll see on our pages. You can find an extensive write-up on the family salticidae at The Tree of Life Website
Bold Jumping spider Phidippus audax	Coy Jumping Spider Phidippus princeps	Magnolia Green Jumper NEW! Lyssomanes viridis	Silly Jumping Spider Phidippus otiosus	Moustache Jumping Spider Phidippus mystaceus
All thumbnails pages	Peregrina galathea	New! Brown Widow Spider Latrodectus geometricus	Phidippus clarus	Phidippus princeps

Orbweaver spider A. trifasciata with web stabilimenta

Stabilimentaare conspicuous lines or spirals of silk, included by many diurnal spidersat the center of their otherwise cryptic webs. It has been shown spider webs using stabilimenta catch, on average, 34% fewer insects than those without. However, webs with the easily-visible markings are damaged far less frequently by birds flying through the web. It is an evolutionary tradeoff the spider can influence every time it builds a new web. The inclusion of stabilimenta is influenced by many factors, including prey density and web location. Read the scientific study at Behavioral Ecology magazine.

In any event, stabilimenta or no, a large Argiope planted firmly head-down in her web amongst tall weeds and grasses remains maddeningly invisible to man and beast. The black and yellow markings of the fat abdomen and striped legs function as camouflage much like the tigers' stripes do in the jungle - the geometric elements serve to break up the outline of the spiders' body and confuse the eye of the beholder into not recognizing the image. It is this principle upon which warships' hull camouflage was painted during the World Wars, with stark diagonal lines and shapes intended to keep an enemy from discerning the outline and identifying the size of the ship and the extent of its armaments.

I find watching the orb weavers fascinating; whether they are spinning or attacking prey or even just sitting, they provide just the right amount of dread and horror and creepiness. I think I like them so much more than other spiders because they are generally out there where I can see them, not hiding in my shoe. I love the grisly spectacle of a huge Argiope attacking a wasp or grasshopper (and I confess to throwing not a few unfortunates into their clutches during photographic down time) and marvel at the evolutionary processes that resulted in these beautiful creatures and their stunningly efficient predatory style.

Female funnel web weaver

Funnel web weaver - Agelenopsis sp.

Spider at front of funnel retreat

Agelenopsis on sheet web

Funnel web weavers (Family Agelenidae) are small to medium sized spiders often found in grassy fields or living among leaf litter in forests. In many species, the second pair of spinnerets are twice the length of the first pair. They spin sheet webs of nonsticky silk with a characteristic funnel extending off to one side. The funnel is where the spider hides while awaiting prey. There is a 3-dimensional barrier web spun above the sheet web, and when a prey item falls through onto the sheet web, the spider quickly runs out and bites its victim, then drags it back to the funnel to feed. These sheet webs are nearly invisible unless covered with dewdrops on a cool morning, and the spider can move very quickly over the surface. It almost looks as if the spider is walking on air. There are over 400 North American species. Spiders of the genus Agelenopsis pictured here are commonly known as grass spiders.

Wolf Spider - Shizocosa sp.

Camouflage allows near invisibility

Wolf spider female with spiderlings

Wolf spider momma with young

Wolf Spiders (Family Lycosidae) are ground hunters. Except for one genus, they spin no webs at all; some dig burrows in the ground or under rocks, many have no retreat at all. They have eight eyes of unequal size arranged in three rows, the first row having four eyes. The long thin legs have three microscopic claws at their tips. The female spins a large spherical egg sac, attaches it to her spinnerets and drags it around until the eggs hatch. The hatchlings then climb onto her back and stay there until they are able to fend for themselves. I accidentally touched the momma spider in the pictures above - the dozens of spiderlings instantly scattered and were all gone within seconds.

Nursery web spider - Pisaurina mira

Nursery web spider eyes detail

Nursery Web Spider with egg sac

Fishing Spider - Dolomedes sp.

Nursery Web Spiders (Family Pisauridae) resemble wolf spiders. Most spiders in this family (which includes the so-called fishing spiders) have their eyes arranged in two rows, with the front row in a straight line of four, the second row curved in a u-shape. These spiders do not build webs to catch prey, but use silk to construct a special nest or nursery web. The female carries a spherical egg sac around until the eggs are ready to hatch, then constructs a web and places the egg sac inside. She then stands guard nearby until the spiderlings have all grown and dispersed. Some of the largest spiders in this family, the fishing spiders, run over the surface of ponds and streams, and sometimes even go underwater. They may capture tadpoles and small fishes near the surface, but mostly prey on insects.

Cobweb spiders (Family Theridiidae) are also called comb-footed spiders, after the inconspicuous comb like bristles on the hind tarsi of many species. These spiders spin irregular webs (cobwebs) and use their combs to fling silk over any prey that gets caught in the web. The thus swathed victim is then hauled to a rest site, injected with venom, and later eaten. There are more than 200 North American species in this family, including the black widow spider, Latrodectus mactans.

Cobweb Spider
Steatoda triangulosa

Cobweb Spider
Theridion sp.

Crab spiders (family Thomisidae) hold their legs outstretched to the sides, in the manner of their crustacean namesake, and can move forwards, sideways, or backward. They have short, broad bodies and 8 small eyes sometimes located on raised bumps. The second pair of legs is often much heavier and longer than the third and fourth pairs. Crab spiders do not build any sort of web, they prowl the ground and climb flowers and plants in search of prey. Many are masters of camouflage and simply await their prey on flowers, much like ambush bugs.

Crab spider
Misumenoides formocipes

Crab Spider
Xysticus sp.

Crab Spider
Synema sp.

Lynx Spiders
Family Oxyopidae
Recognized by their distinctive eye arrangement - 6 eyes form a hexagon with 2 smaller eyes facing forward. Their legs have prominent spines. Lynx spiders do not build webs. Most are found on shrubs and low foliage, where they hunt for prey.

Cellar / Vibrating Spiders
Family Pholcidae
Live in dark, undisturbed places like basements and attics. They are small-bodied spiders with very long, thin legs. They are often called daddy long legs, in confusion with the harvestmen (Order Opiliones) and the crane flies (Tipulidae).

Black Widow Spider
Family Theridiidae
are members of the cobweb spider family, also known as comb-footed spiders. Of all spiders, this is the most feared. The female's venom is especially poisonous to people, but like most spiders, they bite humans only in defense.

Running Crab Spiders
Family Philodromidae
These are very common spiders that frequently live in human dwellings - they are the most likely culprits when you find cobwebs in the corners of your ceilings.

Brown Recluse Spider
Loxosceles reclusa

Tarantulas
Family Theraphosidae

Green Lynx Spider
Peucetia viridans

Crab Spider
Misumenoides sp.