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Spiders
(order Araneae,
class Arachnida, subphylum Chelicerata, phylum Arthropoda, superphylum
Protostomia, subkingdom Metazoa, kingdom Animalia, domain Eukarya) Notes on Taxonomy Choices
Click on arrows to show pull-down menus:
All spiders are venomous, but only a couple of species in
the US, the Brown Recluse (not pictured on this page) and the
Black Widow can do serious harm to humans. Most
spiders' chelicerae, structures that end in hollow, pointed fangs through which
venom is injected, cannot penetrate human skin; only the venom of the Brown
Recluse and Black Widow is toxic enough to damage the human body. The
tarantulas of the Southwestern US sometimes bite in self-defense, but are
generally reputed to do so without injecting venom, which is reserved for
incapacitating prey. The
harmless North American Funnel Web Spiders (members of the Agelenidae family) should not be
confused with the highly venomous Sydney (Australia) Funnel Web Spiders (Atrax
robustus), which are
members of another suborder altogether (the Mygalomorphae).
Purseweb Spider (Sphodros genus, Atypidae
family, Mygalomorphae suborder)
Mygalomorphs are generally large spiders. True
Tarantulas (family Theraphosidae) are members of this suborder; some are found
in the Southwestern US.
The Atypidae are sometimes known as "atypical tarantulas."
There are two genera in the US: Atypus and Sphodros.
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| Male Purseweb Spider
(Sphodros atlanticus),
Eno River State Park, Fews Ford access, top
of Cox Mountain, Orange County, NC, 5/27/06. Family
ID thanks to
John and Jane Balaban, referring to
BugGuide's Purseweb Spider page. Genus, species and sex ID thanks to Jeff
Hollenbeck. |
Common Orb Weavers
(Araneidae family, Araneoidea, Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
According to most recent classification schemes, spinning
mainly vertical flat, spiral-patterned webs ("orbs") is a main characteristic of these spiders.
Spiny Orb Weavers
(Micrathena genus, Araneidae family, Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
These orb weavers have traditionally been considered to be
in this family, and I'm betting it will be official in the final classification
scheme. But their genus seems not to have come up for consideration yet.
Micrathena gracilis
These spiders, commonly known as Spined Micrathenas,
have five black spines on a mostly white
abdomen, at least under ideal circumstances. I see six spines on some of
these, and have no ready answers.
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| Spined Micrathena (Micrathena gracilis), Durham, 7/28/05. This spider had spun a web across a
walking path in my neighborhood that was high enough not to be disturbed
by people. |
Spined Micrathena,
Penny's Bend Nature Preserve,
Durham County, NC, 9/7/07. |
Spined Micrathena, Durham, 7/31/05.
Either this spider has great camouflage or goes around with a
caterpillar stuck to its abdomen. |
Spined Micrathena, Indian Creek Trail,
Chatham County, NC, 8/2/05. Most of
this spider is ridged abdomen, but you can see the legs on top. |
Spined Micrathena, Durham, 8/5/05. On this spider and the one on the
left, you can see the prominent abdominal spinneret. |
Spined Micrathena, Penny's Bend Nature Preserve,
Durham County, NC, 8/13/06 |
Penny's Bend, Durham County, NC, 8/24/05. |
Micrathena mitrata
These spiders have just two spines on their abdomens, but
are similar to the gracilis species spiders otherwise. ID based on
remarks about this species near the bottom of the Micrathena Gracilis page
of the
University of Arkansas' Arthropod Museum Notes.
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| Micrathena mitrata, Penny's Bend
Nature Preserve, Durham County, NC, 9/7/07. |
Chatham County, NC, 11/9/05. This one was about
¼ inch long. |
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, 9/8/05.
The two spines are not obvious here. |
Maybe the other side of a mitrata, but just guessing! Mason Farm Biological Reserve,
10/23/05.
This tiny spider was only about
¼ inch long, so I was surprised to see the
"spiny" abdomen. It was one of only 2 spiders I saw that day. |
Arrow-shaped Micrathenas
(Micrathena sagittata)
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| Arrow-shaped Micrathena
(Micrathena sagittata), Eno River SP, Old Cole Mill
Road access, 7/30/05. This spider was
in the process of web-spinning. |
Another
Arrow-shaped Micrathena spider found in the
same general area. |
Arrow-shaped Micrathena (Micrathena sagittata), Mason Farm
Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 8/12/08 |
Crablike Spiny Orb Weavers (Gasterocantha
cancriformis, Araneidae family, Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
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| Crablike
Spiny Orb Weaver, Cypress Gardens, Berkeley County, SC,
10/12/07. See other spiders. |
Crablike Spiny Orb Weaver
(Gasteracantha
cancriformis),
Carolina Beach State Park, New Hanover County, NC, 6/23/06 |
Crablike Spiny Orb Weaver,
same spider |
Crablike Spiny Orb Weaver,
Carolina Beach State
Park, New Hanover County, NC, 6/23/07 |
Crablike Spiny Orb Weaver,
Fort Fisher Basin
Trail, New Hanover County, NC, 6/22/06 |
Crablike Spiny Orb Weaver,
Audubon Swamp Garden, Charleston County, SC, 10/11/07 |
Star-bellied
Orb Weavers
(Acanthepeira stellata,
Araneidae family, Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
There are only five species in this genus.
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| Star-bellied spider, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, 8/28/05.
This one reminds of part of a cuckoo clock my mother once had! |
Star-bellied spider, Indian Creek Trail, a
Jordan Lake Game Land, Chatham County, NC, 7/7/06: ventral view on left,
dorsal on right. |
Triangulate Orb Weavers
(Verrucosa
arenata, Araneidae family, Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
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| Triangulate Orb Weaver
(Verrucosa
arenata), Indian Creek, 8/2/05 |
Triangulate
Orb Weaver, Little River Park, Orange County, NC, 10/20/07 |
Triangulate Orb Weaver (Verrucosa
arenata),
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, 9/18/05. |
Triangulate Orb Weaver
(Verrucosa
arenata), White Pines Nature Preserve, Chatham County, NC, 9/25/05.
ID based on the
State of Missouri's spiders page. |
Araneus genus members,
Araneidae family,
Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae
Araneus and Neoscona are very similar genera, and
many of these photos were not taken at an angle that reveals the one tiny
difference (the posterior dorsal longitudinal groove), as described at
American Museum of Natural History's Orb Weaver Page. So many of these
are guesses.
Araneus diadematus
(Garden Spiders or Cross
Spiders)
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| Garden Spider
or Cross Spider(Araneus diadematus),
ventral view, Durham,
8/5/05. Probably a male. |
Garden Spider, ventral view, White Pines Natural Area, Chatham County, 9/25/05.
Maybe another male. |
Garden Spider, mostly dorsal view, Durham, NC, 8/30/06 |
Araneus marmoreus
(Marbled Orb Weavers)
These pictures illustrate the variation in abdominal
patterns occuring among members of this species.
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| Marbled Orb Weaver (Araneus marmoreus),
Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, Orange County, NC, 9/27/07 |
Marbled Orb Weaver,
Eno River State Park, Orange
County, NC, 10/9/06. |
Marbled Orb Weaver,
Nova Scotia, Canada, 10/18/07. Photo taken by Nancy Crowell. |
Marbled Orb Weaver
(Araneus marmoreus),
mostly ventral view, Eno River State Park, Old
Cole Mill Road access, 9/16/05 |
Marbled Orb Weaver (Araneus marmoreus), Durham, 9/27/05. |
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| Araneus genus orb weaver, Durham, NC, 8/18/07 |
Neoscona genus members, Araneidae family, Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae
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| Neoscona genus?),
Durham, NC, 8/30/06 |
Neoscona domiciliorum, Johnston's Mill Nature Preserve,
Orange County, NC, 8/25/05 |
Orb weaver (Neoscona genus), Penny's Bend Nature
Preserve, Durham County, NC, 6/15/07 |
Orb weaver
(Neoscona genus), Johnston Mill Nature Preserve,
Orange County, NC, 9/9/06 |
Orb weaver (Neoscona genus),
Durham, 7/6/05 |
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| Orb weaver (Neoscona genus), Durham, 8/11/07.
This spider repaired its web every night. |
Orb weaver (Neoscona genus), Durham, NC, 8/14/07.
This was apparently the same spider, several nights later, resting after
repairing its web. |
Argiope genus,
Araneidae family, Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae
Argiopes are standard orb weavers in that their webs are
round and flat.
White-backed Garden Spider
or Banded Argiope (Argiope trifasciata)
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| White-backed Garden Spider,
Durham,
9/27/05. Also very well-fed. Was hanging out next to a large
lantana patch visited by many insects. |
White-backed Garden Spider,
Penny's Bend, Durham County, NC, 10/15/05,
ventral view |
White-backed Garden Spider.
Dorsal view of the same spider. Definitely
well-fed! |
White-backed Garden Spider,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange
County, NC, 10/17/07
Dorsal view. |
White-backed Garden Spider,
ventral view of the same spider. |
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Yellow-and-black Garden Spider
(Argiope aurantia)
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| Yellow-and-black
Garden Spider, 9/2/04. Not so well-fed. |
Yellow-and-black
Garden Spider, Indian
Creek Trail, Chatham County, 8/2/05. Also not so well-fed. |
Yellow-and-black
Garden Spider. Close-up of well-fed Argiope.
Doesn't look as much like just another Harnett County, NC (8/10/04)
spider as it does ... a
Spider Woman (at our online store)?
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Male
Yellow-and-black Garden Spider,
Al Buehler Trail, Duke University, NC, 8/22/05. Appears to be well-fed. |
Male
Yellow-and-Black Garden Spider,
Fayetteville, NC, 8/25/06. Taken by Adolph Thomas. © 2006 Adolph Thomas.
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Male Yellow-and-Black Argiope, Fort
Fisher, New Hanover County, NC, 6/22/06 |
Yellow-and-black
Garden Spider, Jordan Lake Game Land, Chatham County, NC
10/1/06 |
Egg sac of
Yellow-and-black Garden Spider on left.
Jordan Lake Game Land, Chatham County, NC 10/1/06 |
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| Yellow-and-black Garden Spider,
Dare
County, NC, 10/6/05. |
Mangora genus,
Araneidae family,
Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae
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| Orb weaver (probably Mangora placida), Penny's Bend
Nature Preserve, Durham County, NC, 3/30/07 |
Orb weaver (probably Mangora placida), Johnston Mill
Nature Preserve, Orange County, NC, 3/31/07 |
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| Mangora genus, Durham, 7/30/05 |
Mangora genus (but not necessarily placida species), Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, Orange
County, NC, 8/31/07. This may be the same species as the spider on
the left. |
Mangora genus, Durham, NC, 8/1/07. This appears
to be the same species as the spider on the immediate left. Genus ID thanks to
Jeff Hollenbeck. |
Acacesia hamata
(Araneidae family,
Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
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| Acacesia hamata, Durham, 7/18/05. ID provided by
John and Jane Balaban. |
Spider,
(Acacesia hamata), Penny's Bend Nature Preserve,
Durham County, NC, 9/7/07. This was a very tiny spider, a few mm
long. Its placement on the brown spot of this leaf camouflaged it
effectively. |
Gea heptagon
(Araneidae family,
Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
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| Spider (Gea heptagon), Durham, NC, 8/21/06 |
Unidentified orb weavers,
Araneidae family,
Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae
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| Another orb weaver, upstaged by its
dew-adorned web at the very beginning of the day. |
Mystery orb weaver, Durham, 10/29/05. This tiny spider
was the only live orb weaver I saw that day. |
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| Mangora genus? Eno River SP, Old Cole Mill Road access,
8/17/05 |
Golden Silk Spiders and Allies
(Nephilinae subfamily, Nephilidae family,
Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
Golden Silk Spiders (Nephila
clavipes)
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| Golden Silk Spider (Nephila clavipes),
Carolina Beach State Park, New Hanover County, NC,
9/16/07. These are different views of the same spider: ventral,
side and dorsal. |
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Long-jawed Orb Weavers
(Tetragnathidae family, derived araneoids, Araneoidea,
Orbiculariae, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
Elongate Long-jawed Orb Weavers (Tetragnatha
elongata)
These spiders are so named because of their unusually
large chelicerae, commonly called "fangs," which contain venom-producing
glands and end in hollow spikes through which they deliver their venom.
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| Elongate Long-jawed Orb Weaver, Durham, 6/13/05.
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This same
Elongate Long-jawed Orb Weaver sought cover on a form of
swamp grass, using impressive camouflage. |
A great view of the complex
pattern on the same Elongate Long-jawed Orb
Weaver's
abdomen. |
Another such
Elongate Long-jawed Orb Weaver, Durham, 6/29/05.
The chelicerae are especially prominent in this photo. |
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| Elongate Long-jawed Orb Weaver,
Eno River State Park, Old Cole Mill Road access, Orange County, NC, 11/7/05 |
Elongate Long-jawed Orb Weaver,
Durham, NC,
9/10/06. The large "jaws" (chelicerae) are especially manifest here. |
Long-jawed Orb Weavers
(Tetragnatha genus)
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| Long-jawed Orb Weaver, Jordan Lake Gameland,
Chatham County, NC, 6/19/07 |
Long-jawed Orb Weaver,
Durham, 4/28/06 |
Orchard Spiders
(Leucauge venusta)
There is a lot of inter-species variation among Orchard
Spiders. Coastal NC spiders have different patterns from those in the NC
Piedmont, but South Carolina Orchard Spiders are remarkably different from both.
See more Orchard Spider
photos.
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| Orchard Spider, a coastal variety, Dare County, NC, 10/6/05. Apparently with prey. |
Orchard Spider, Unknown species, Eno River SP, Durham County, NC,
4/28/06 |
Orchard Spider,
Carolina Beach State Park, New Hanover County, NC, 9/17/07 |
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Some very beautiful small spiders are easily
overlooked. This is a sexually dimorphous species (see
Bugguide's picture of Orchard Spider couple
) and shows a lot of patterns of wear and tear. I'm making my guess about
which sex is which on the assumption that females have the large abdomens
(sometimes, when they're pregnant). (Note:
unless otherwise noted, all of the orchard spiders were about ¾ inch long).
Females
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| Orchard Spider, Audubon
Swamp Garden, Charleston County, SC, 10/11/07. Order a T-shirt
with this picture on it at
our online store. |
Another
Orchard Spider, also Audubon Swamp, 10/11/07 |
Durham, NC, /27/05. This seems to be a pregnant
female. |
Durham, NC, 6/9/05. |
Males
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| Eno River SP, Old Cole Mill Road access,
6/23/05. |
Eno River State Park, Old Cole Mill Road access,
7/6/05, same as spider on left |
Durham, 7/20/05 |
Comb-footed Spiders
(Theridiidae
family, Theridioidea, Araneoid sheetweb weavers, Reduced pyriform clade, Derived
Araneoids, Araneoidea, RTA Clade, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
These spiders spin cobwebs, which humans detest and
songbirds love to use for nesting material.
American House Spiders
(Achaearanea tepidariorum)
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| American House Spider (Achaearanea tepidariorum)
attacking a Marbled Orb Weaver, Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, 7/15/06 |
American House Spider (Achaearanea tepidariorum)
with egg sac. Durham, 7/22/05 |
American House Spider,
Durham, NC, 8/10/07 |
American House Spider with
egg sac. Durham, 6/14/05. One of the larger spiders I've
seen. |
American House Spider
with prey,
Durham, 7/6/05 |
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Comb-footed spider (Theridion pictipes), Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, Orange County, NC,
5/31/07. ID thanks to
John and Jane Balaban. |
This ID is just a guess, since the Black Widow's classic
identifying feature, the red hourglass mark, is on the ventral side. But if the
spider is not in a web, this is the angle you are most likely to see it at.
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| Maybe a Black Widow
(Latrodectus mactans),
Durham,
12/30/05.
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Sheet Web Weaver and Dwarf Spiders
(Linyphiidae Family,
Linyphioids, Araneoid sheetweb weavers, Reduced pyriform clade, Derived
araneoids, Araneoidea, Orbiculariae,
Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
All photos in the first row were taken of members of the species Florinda coccinea,
subfamily Linyphiinae member, according to
Wikipedia's Blacktailed Red Sheetweaver page and
Samford University's Florinda coccinea page. Levi and Levi
(2002) describe this species as yellow-colored (rather puzzling) and most
commonly found in the southeastern US.
These spiders' webs form elaborate horizontal sheets.
The Florinda coccinea
usually spins its web near the ground in grasses, but the Frontinella communis
spiders depicted below have typically showed up in the branches of small trees.
This spider family has the most species, although its members
are very tiny and probably overlooked altogether by most people. The two
shown below are apparently the most common in Piedmont North Carolina.
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| Black-tailed Red Sheetweaver,
Durham, 8/6/05, at edge of local swamp, but still deep
in swamp grass. About ¼ inch long.
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Black-tailed Red Sheetweaver,
same location, 9/3/05.
According to Patrick Moran, this is a male spider; the others are
females. The large pedipalps are the key. |
Black-tailed Red Sheetweaver,
Durham, 7/16/05, local swamp.
Possibly the same species as at left, but maybe not as well-fed. |
Black-tailed Red Sheetweaver,
Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, Orange County, NC, 9/30/06. This
picture was taken on a cool morning when the dew was still on its web. |
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| Female Bowl and
Doily Spider (Frontinella
communis), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 10/17/07 |
Female Bowl and
Doily Spider, Mason Farm Biological Reserve, 11/21/07 |
Female Bowl and
Doily Spider, Eno River State Park, 10/18/07 |
Male Bowl and
Doily Spider |
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Other mystery web-spinning spiders that have
evaded classification (all taxa!)
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| Durham, 6/26/05. |
Durham, 6/26/05. Another small spider with
an interesting abdomen pattern. |
Durham, 6/25/05. |
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| Indian Creek Trail, a Jordan Lake Game
Land, Chatham County, NC, 7/7/06 |
Mystery spider, Indian Creek Trail, a
Jordan Lake Game Land, Chatham County, NC, 9/3/06 |
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| Two views of a mystery spider, Penny's Bend Nature
Preserve, Durham County, NC, 4/20/06 |
Web-spinning Spiders that defy higher taxa categorization
Basilica Spiders
(Mecynogea lemniscata)
In contrast with the flat webs of the orchard spiders, the
webs of these spiders filled a three-dimensional space and no two threads seemed
to be in the same plane. They often are found in groups in contiguous
webs. Maybe they get their common name from this web
structure. In this respect, at any rate, they are at the far extreme
from standard
orb weavers, but the newer classification schemes don't seem to address the
problem. So we are not assuming that they are Araneidae family members, as
is assumed by many people.
The two pictures on the left suggest an aborted
courtship (Durham, 7/20/05). It took place within one of a group of
complex webs with elaborate three-dimensional structures. All webs were
apparently spun by spiders of the same species, which had the abdominal patterns
pictured in the two photos on the right.
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| The large spider approached the smaller
spider. |
The smaller spider let the big spider touch
it with two feet for a second or two, then they quickly separated.
No accounting for taste (pun intended!) |
This is another spider similar to the
smaller spider on the left. |
This is another view of the spider on the
left. |
Durham, 7/31/05. With egg sacs. |
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| Durham, 6/30/05. This spider was apparently wrapping up its
prey. |
Funnel Web Spiders
(Agelenidae family,
Other Amaurobioids, RTA Clade, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
These spiders have a two-part web consisting of a
horizontal sheet which catches prey and a funnel-shaped tunnel in which the
spider hides. In this way, they bear a superficial resemblance to
the highly venomous Australasian Funnel-web Spiders, members of the Hexathelidae
family, suborder Mygalomorphae. This is a classic example of how
common names can cause serious confusion.
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| Funnel web spider (probably Agelenolopsis genus), Johnston Mill, Orange County, NC, 7/1/06 |
Funnel web spider, Boone, NC, 8/7/06 |
Funnel web spider, Durham, NC, 9/30/07.
This spider showed up on our deck.
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Funnel web spider?
Eno River State Park, Old
Cole Mill Road access, 5/10/07, ventral view. The light color
suggests that it's a recent molt. |
Nursery Web Spiders and Fishing Spiders
(Pisauridae
family, Lycosoidea, RTA Clade, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
These spiders are noted both for their ability to walk on
water and for their spiderlings, which stay together until relatively large.
Their only use of silk is to build their "nursery webs."
Six-spotted Fishing Spiders
(Dolomedes triton)
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| Six-spotted Fishing Spider (Dolomedes
triton) with sea snail, Durham, 5/03/05 |
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| Six-spotted Fishing Spider, NC Botanical Garden, 8/17/06.
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Six-spotted Fishing Spider,
Durham, NC, 6/9/05 |
Dark Fishing Spiders
(Dolomedes
tenebrosus)
These spiders can seem to be wolf spiders to those with
poor vision. But they are more likely than wolf spiders to be found in aquatic habitats.
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| Dark Fishing Spider
(Dolomedes tenebrosus),
Durham, 3/22/06. This relatively large spider had at least six
eyes and was scrambling around on the edge of a creek, sometimes in the
water, sometimes on leaves or blades of grass. It seemed to have
grown too big to walk on water, a problem apparently encountered by few
members of this species. |
Dark Fishing Spider
(Dolomedes tenebrosus),
Durham, 2/14/06 |
Dark Fishing Spider
(Dolomedes tenebrosus),
Durham, 4/15/06 |
Dark Fishing Spider
(Dolomedes tenebrosus),
Durham, 6/23/05 |
Dark Fishing Spider,
Occoneechee Mountain Natural Area, Orange County, NC,
4/9/06. This spider, about ¼ inch long,
was following around a brown worker ant subduing a black
winged ant. |
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| Dark Fishing Spider,
a lake in Illinois, 7/9/07, taken by
Danielle Lessing. © 2007 Danielle Lessing |
This picture gives a better picture of how big this
spider was. Ms. Lessing said it seemed to be five inches across.
Apparently the abundant food supply at the lake enabled this spider to
get bigger than we formerly thought Dark Fishing Spiders could be! |
Nursery Web Spiders (Pisaurina mira)
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| Nursery Web Spider,
Durham, 6/22/05. |
Nursery Web Spider, Durham, NC, 8/14/08 |
I'm guessing these are
Nursery Web spiderlings.
Eno River SP, Old Cole Mill Road access, Orange County, NC, 9/16/05. |
Wolf Spiders
(Lycosidae family, Lycosoidea,
RTA Clade, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
These are very big spiders at maturity. Although
they are not known to administer venomous bites, I once had a close call with a
full-size Wolf Spider: it had found its way into an empty shoe and surprised me
with a painful nip that left deep indentations on my heavily callused toe when I put the shoe on.
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| Rabid Wolf Spider
(Lycosa rabidosa), Durham (edge of swamp),
10/24/05. This spider was about ½
inch long and very timid, may be immature. |
Wolf spider, Durham, 10/28/05 |
This large wolf spider was carrying a bunch of
spiderlings on her abdomen at Johnston Mill, Orange County, NC, 7/15/06. |
Wolf Spider,
Mason Farm Biological Reserve,
Orange County, NC, 10/28/06. |
Lynx Spiders
(Oxyopidae family, Lycosoidea,
RTA Clade, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
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| Green Lynx Spider(Peucetia viridans), Durham, 7/16/05. This
one showed up in my local marsh. |
Green Lynx Spider,
Indian Creek Trail, a Jordan
Lake Game Land, Chatham County, NC, 9/3/06 |
Striped Lynx spider
(Oxyopes salticus),
with small green prey, Boone, NC, 8/6/08 |
Crab Spiders
(Thomisidae family, Dionycha,
RTA Clade, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
These spiders don't spin webs; instead, they wait in ambush
for their prey.
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| This
Smooth Flower Spider (Misumena vatia) was
apparently eating a fly on Siler's Bald in Macon County, NC, on
8/10/05. |
Smooth Flower Spider,
North Carolina Museum of
Art outdoor trail, Wake County, NC, 5/8/07, with grasshopper prey. |
Flower Spider, Durham, 8/13/05. Apparently lying in wait for prey. |
Foliage Flower Spider
(Misumenops genus), Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 10/2/05.
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Crab spider (with prey), Indian Creek Trail, a Jordan
Lake Game Land, Chatham County, NC, 7/7/06. This tiny spider
looked at first glance like a Sinea genus assassin bug nymph. |
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| Crab Spider,
Durham, 8/17/06. Showed up on door to our deck. |
Probably the same species of spider on the one on the
left. Durham (swamp in my neighborhood), 9/22/05. |
Durham, 10/1/05. Also found in
local swamp. This
spider was about ⅛ inch long. |
Crab spider, Durham, NC, 5/17/08 |
Crab spider, Mason Farm
Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC, 8/12/08 |
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| Crab Spider,
Wannamaker County Park, Charleston County, SC, 3/28/06 |
Crab spider, White Pines Nature Preserve, Chatham
County, NC, 11/11/06 |
Crab spider, Eno River State Park, Old Cole Mill Road access, Orange County, NC, 11/7/05.
This was an especially large spider, about
an inch long not including the front legs. |
Ground Spiders
(Gnaphosidae family,
Gnaphosoidea, Dionycha, RTA Clade, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
These are mainly nocturnal spiders that hide under rocks
during the day, but every now and then we get a glimpse of them scurrying across
a walking path. They may be often overlooked because they look like
ants from a distance. However, they should not be confused with the
"ant-mimic" spiders of Corinnidae, which look like brown ants up close.
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| Gnaphosa muscorum?
Durham, 6/9/05. You can see only six legs, but
this small (magnified) spider apparently lost some. |
Gnaphosa muscorum?Durham, 6/16/05. The abdomens have different
colors and different numbers of spots. |
Ground spider (Sergiolus capulatus), Durham, 2/17/06 |
Ground spider (Cesonia bilineata),
Durham, NC, 6/13/06. The large abdomen suggests that this is a
pregnant female. |
Ant Mimic Spiders (Corinnidae
family,
Gnaphosoidea, Dionycha, RTA Clade, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
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Ground Sac Spider (Castianeira longipalpa).
Thanks to
Lynette Schimming for genus ID.
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Corinnid spider (Castaneira
genus), moderate-sized spider |
Red-spotted Ant Mimic (Castianeira descripta),
Durham, NC, 11/20/07 |
Red-spotted
Ant Mimic Spider,
Durham, 5/18/08 |
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Jumping Spiders
(Salticidae family,
Dionycha, RTA Clade, Entelegynae, Araneomorphae)
Jumping spiders seem to have excellent vision and
quick response times. One thing that's obvious is that they can make big
moves, such as 180° complete turnabouts, almost instantaneously, and don't need
to have a completely horizontal surface to do it, either!
They are hard to pin down to a species, in part because
the "awwww!" factor often seduces photographers into taking pictures from the front,
thus missing out on identifying markings.
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| Lyssomanes viridis,
subfamily Lyssomaninae,
outdoor trail at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Wake County, NC,
5/8/07 |
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| Tree Trunk Spider
(Metacyrba genus,
"miscellaneous salticids with a fixed embolus"), Durham, 9/19/05. |
Jumping spider (Metacyrba genus), Durham, 6/20/05 |
Jumping spider, (Hasarius adansonii, "miscellaneous
salticids with a fixed embolus") NC Botanical Garden, 3/14/06.
A very tiny spider, about a
tenth of an inch long. |
Jumping Spider (maybe Hasarius adansonii, ),
Durham, 7/13/06 |
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| Daring Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax,
subfamily Dendryphantinae)?,
Durham, 7/16/05. Here, the spider seemed to be tilting its head back
to look at me. |
Same
Daring Jumping Spider: now it's facing me. Patrick
Moran tells me he got a painful nip from a member of this species. |
Daring Jumping Spider, Durham, 4/16/06 |
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| Phidippus genus?Boone, Watauga County, 8/29/05 |
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| Jumping spider with prey, possibly a
winged termite. Penny's Bend
Nature Preserve, Durham County, NC, 4/20/07. |
Jumping spider, Eno River State Park, Old Cole Mill
Road access, Orange County, NC, 7/27/07 |
Jumping spider, Durham, 4/15/06 |
Jumping spider, Durham, 6/2/06 |
Jumping spider (Paraphidippus aurantius), Mason Farm Biological Reserve (area north of the
creek), 4/28/07 |
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| Jumping spider (Platycryptus undatus), Durham,
8/14/07. This was a relatively large spider, at least 13 mm long
and very lively. |
Jumping Spider (Platycryptus undatus),Durham, NC,
7/13/06. It is missing its left foreleg. |
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| Jumping
spider, Durham, NC, 6/15/08 |
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| Jumping spider, Dare County, 10/6/05. A relatively large
spider. |
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| Jumping spider, 9/3/06, probably in Durham. |
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| Jumping spider, Penny's Bend Nature Preserve, Durham County, NC,
8/13/06 |
Jumping spider, Indian Creek Trail, a Jordan Lake Game
Land, Chatham County, NC, 9/3/06 |
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| Duke Forest, Gate 12, Durham, NC, 10/14/05. When this spider saw me
coming, it scrambled down this plant stalk. |
But when I snapped the picture on the left,
the spider turned to look at me. (Don't ask me why the fangs are
blue!) |
Here, it's raised its forelegs, partially obscuring the
fangs. |
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| Jumping spider, near the shore of Lake Crabtree, Wake County, NC,
10/13/05.
It was facing down.
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When I took the first picture, the spider on the left
turned around to face me. You can see the big, furry fangs and the
big eyes in the front. |
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| Jumping spider, Boone, Watauga County, 8/29/05 |
Jumping spider, Durham, 6/22/05.
Similar to the Boone spider at left, but probably not the same species.
Even though the leftmost picture of this spider seems different from the
others, these really are the same spider, all taken at 2:11 and 2:12
(the rightmost) PM. |
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| Jumping spider with prey, Dare County, NC, 10/5/05. |
Jumping spider, Eno River SP, Old Cole Mill Road access, 9/16/05. This one
went right under the leaf after looking backward and seeing me. |
Jumping spider, Eno River SP, Old Cole Mill
Road access, 8/17/05. Look at all
those eyes! In the picture on the right, the spider faced toward
me, but maybe was looking at me the whole time! |
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| Jumping spider, Mason Farm Biological
Reserve, Orange County, NC, 4/14/06. About
⅛ inch long. |
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| Jumping spider (Thiodina sylvana), Lake Crabtree County Park, 3/16/06. This spider was about a
sixteenth of an inch long and traveled up a silk strand to get to this twig. |
Mystery Spiders
From time to time spiders present ID problems and photos
are shown here. See if you can figure out what kinds of spiders these are.
If you know the answer, contact us.
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