Western Spotted Orbweaver
Neoscona oaxacensis
Also known as: Zig-zag spider
Arachnida
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- About 1 yr
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Insectivore
- Activity
- Nocturnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Temperate shrubland
- Range
- Americas
- Movement
- Climbing
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Camouflage
- Status
- Common
About
The western spotted orbweaver is a common orb-weaving spider of the western United States and Mexico, with a mottled brown-and-cream abdomen patterned with dark spots that helps it disappear against bark and dry vegetation. Each evening it rebuilds its wheel-shaped web from scratch, often near porch lights where it can ambush insects drawn to the glow.
Life cycle
- 1.egg sacA silk-wrapped egg sac shelters a clutch of eggs until the young are ready to emerge.
- 2.juvenileA spiderling emerges from the egg sac already in miniature adult form and starts catching prey almost immediately.
- 3.subadultA near-adult arachnid molts through several instars, growing larger and developing mature markings.
- 4.adultFully grown after its final molt.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Arachnida
- Order
- Araneae
- Family
- Araneidae
- Genus
- Neoscona
- Species
- Neoscona oaxacensis