Stats

Lifespan

Annual

Size

Medium

Diet

Insectivore

Activity

Nocturnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Freshwater wetland

Range

Holarctic

Movement

Climbing

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Common

About

This orb-weaver spider lives on steel bridges and structures near open water. It builds webs directly over light sources to catch insects drawn to the glow at night.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg sac

   A silk-wrapped egg sac shelters a clutch of eggs until the young are ready to emerge.
2. 2.
   juvenile

   A spiderling emerges from the egg sac already in miniature adult form and starts catching prey almost immediately.
3. 3.
   subadult

   A near-adult arachnid molts through several instars, growing larger and developing mature markings.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown after its final molt.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Araneidae

Genus

Larinioides

Species

Larinioides sclopetarius