Stats

Lifespan

About 1 yr

Size

Small

Diet

Insectivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

North America

Movement

Climbing

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Spines

Status

Common

About

A small orb-weaver spider with a hardened, spiky abdomen shaped like a squat shield studded with pointed tubercles, often seen suspended in its web across woodland trails at face height. Only females bear the dramatic spines; males are drab and rarely noticed.

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.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Araneidae

Genus

Micrathena

Species

Micrathena gracilis