Stats

Lifespan: Under 1 yr
Size: Medium
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Nocturnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America
Movement: Climbing
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

The Spotted Orbweaver builds large, perfectly symmetrical wheel-shaped webs up to 60 cm across, often reconstructing them entirely each night. Females display striking brown and cream patterning that varies so much between individuals that the species was once mistakenly split into dozens of separate species.

Life cycle

1.
egg sac
A silk-wrapped egg sac shelters a clutch of eggs until the young are ready to emerge.
2.
juvenile
A spiderling emerges from the egg sac already in miniature adult form and starts catching prey almost immediately.
3.
subadult
A near-adult arachnid molts through several instars, growing larger and developing mature markings.
4.
adult
Fully grown after its final molt.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Neoscona
Species: Neoscona crucifera