Hobbies And Interests
Instructions
Take a close look at the spider's web. If the web is circular and large, often more than 6 feet in diameter, then the spider may be an orb weaver.
Look for the spider. Orb weaver spiders typically sit in the center of their webs, facing head-down, waiting for mosquitoes and other flying insects to become ensnared.
Observe the size and shape of the spider. Orb weaver spiders are typically 1/4 to 1 inch in body length with a rounded abdomen.
Look for an orange, black and white coloration with banded legs. An orange abdomen with several symmetrical white markings and legs with alternating bands of white and black may indicate an Aculepeira orb weaver. Creamy white legs with black, brown or orange bands and a predominantly orange abdomen with small white, cream or brown markings may indicate a golden silk orb weaver, also known as a banana spider.
Check for pale legs with brown bands and a white abdomen with tan and brown symmetrical patterns of curving lines and splotches. These markings may indicate a Metepeira orb weaver.
Look for a black or dark brown and pale yellow coloration. If the spider has long, pale legs with brown bands and a colorful pattern of yellow, brown and black spots and splotches on its abdomen, it may be a banded Argiope orb weaver. Short legs with brown bands and a smaller, symmetrical yellow, brown and black splotched body, combined with a web that has a vertical line of debris along the center, indicates a Cyclosa conica, or trashline orb weaver.
Check the top of the abdomen for a series of three pairs of spots. The Larinioides orb weaver, also known as a furrow spider, has pale, hairy legs with brown or black banding and a pale, hairy body that has six dark spots, and it may have dark wavy lines or blotches as well. If the legs and body do not appear to have much hair, you may have found an Araniella displicata, or six-spotted orb weaver. It typically has pale legs that become darker at the ends and a pale body with six dark spots and an orange or brown coloration toward the back and underside of the abdomen.
Observe the shape of the spider. Long legs and an oblong abdomen in a pale tan with darker brown markings identifies a Tetragnatha, or long-jawed, orb weaver. Shorter red-brown legs with pale bands and a short abdomen with two points at the back indicates an Araneus gemmoides, or cat-faced spider, so named because its red-brown abdomen with small yellow and black markings is similar in shape to a cat's head.
Look for the large, rounded abdomen, similar in shape to an M&M candy, that is common to the Nescona orb weaver. Utah has several varieties of Nescona orb weavers that range in color from black with small brown and cream markings and banded legs to a pale brown with tan and cream markings and pale, banded legs.