Spiders are incredibly diverse invertebrate animals. With approximately 42,000 species within 110 different families identified worldwide, spiders are an incredibly diverse group of invertebrate animals. Of these, approximately 3800 species within 68 families are known to inhabit North America (Bradley 2012).
To see the full list of every animal included in Now I Wonder, please visit the Index Page.
North Carolina Spiders By Name
Click below to discover the many fascinating spiders that creep, skitter, pounce, and wait patiently in ambush around North Carolina.
Atlantic Purseweb Spider
Bold Jumping Spider
Brilliant Jumping Spider
Canopy Jumping Spider
Flat Jumping Spider
Golden Silk Orbweaver Spider
Grass Spider
Green LYnx Spider
Hentz Orbweaver Spider
Long-Bodied Cellar Spider
Longjawed Orbweaver Spider
Marbled Orbweaver Spider
Orchard Orbweaver Spider
Rabid Wolf Spider
Spinybacked Orbweaver Spider
Spotted Forest Orbweaver Spider
Triangulate Orbweaver Spider
Yellow Garden Spider
Overview of the Spider Groups
Jumping Spiders
North Carolina Species Include:
- Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax)
- Brilliant Jumping Spider (Phidippus clarus)
- Canopy Jumping Spider (Phidippus otiosus)
- Flat Jumping Spider (Platycryptus undulatus)
General Characteristics of Jumping Spiders
- Active, diurnal hunters that hunt by sight.
- Their eye arrangement is distinctive.
- Have huge, forward-facing anterior median eyes (AME), and a pair of smaller, forward-facing eyes positioned above and slightly to the side.
- Attack prey by leaping, often from many inches away.
- Before jumping, these spiders anchor themselves to the surface from which they jump with a single strand of spider silk for safety.
Orb-shaped Web Building Spiders
North Carolina Species Include:
- Golden Silk Orbweaver Spider (Trichonephila clavipes)
- Hentz Orbweaver (Neoscona crucifera)
- Longjawed Orbweaver Spider (Tetragnatha spp.)
- Marbled Orbweaver Spider (Araneus marmoreus)
- Orchard Orbweaver Spider (Leucauge venusta)
- Spinybacked Orbweaver Spider (Gasteracantha cancriformis)
- Spotted Forest Orbweaver Spider (Neoscona domiciliorum)
- Triangulate Orbweaver Spider (Verrucosa arenata)
- Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia)
General Characteristics of Orb-shaped Web Building Spiders
- These spiders are those that people traditionally think of when they imagine a “spider”.
- Spin distinctive, circular webs from several different types of silk, produced by different glands.
- An orb web consists of:
- A frame of non-sticky silk strands that radiate from the center of the web, like the spokes of a bicycle tire.
- The spiders anchor the frame strands on vegetation or other environmental supports, like buildings.
- A central disk of sticky silk strands arranged in a spiral around a central hub and attached to the frame.
- A central hub from which individual spiders hang patiently and wait for prey.
- A frame of non-sticky silk strands that radiate from the center of the web, like the spokes of a bicycle tire.
- Prey collides with the sticky webs of the orb and become trapped.
- The waiting spiders respond to the vibrations caused by the prey struggling against the web and pick their way across the orb to attack the trapped prey.
- The sticky strands of the orb gradually dry out and become less effective at trapping prey.
- Most species eat their webs and spin fresh ones on a regular basis.
Other Spider Groups
Foliage Hunting Spiders
North Carolina Species Include:
- Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans)
General Characteristics of Foliage Hunting Spiders
- These spiders hunt in vegetation, like bushes and trees.
- Most are nocturnal, but the lynx spider species are diurnal.
- Nocturnal species hide in silken cocoons during the day (Bradley 2012).
- Do not entrap prey in webs; actively hunt prey in vegetation.
- Trail a single strand of spider silk behind as a safety or drag line (Bradley 2012).
Funnel-shaped Web Building Spiders
North Carolina Species Include:
- Grass Spider (Agelenopsis spp.)
General Characteristics of Funnel-shaped Web Building Spiders
- These spiders construct broad, flat sheet webs that narrow into a central tube; overall, the webs look like funnels.
- The spiders lie in wait within the narrow, central tubes until prey wanders by.
- Prey cause the delicate web strands to vibrate.
- The waiting spiders sense the vibration and rush out to attack.
Ground Hunting Spiders
North Carolina Species Include:
- Rabid Wolf Spider (Rabidosa rabida)
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Rabid Wolf Spider’s informal, common English name is misleading. Spiders cannot harbor the infectious microorganism that causes rabies so there is absolutely no risk of rabies associated with these spiders. It is just a name.
General Characteristics of Ground Hunting Spiders
- Not associated with webs, not even silk drag lines used by other active hunting spiders.
- Most species are nocturnal, but some large species are diurnal.
- These spiders are active hunters, and course along the ground searching for prey.
- Hunt by sight and launch very fast rush attacks against prey.
Mygalomorph Spiders
North Carolina Species Include:
- Atlantic Purseweb Spider (Sphodros atlanticus)
General Characteristics of Mygalomorph Spiders
- Tend to be large-bodied spiders.
- Tarantulas (which do not live in North Carolina) are mygalomorph spiders.
- Considered to be the more ancient of the two spider infraorders (the second infraorder being Araneomorphae).
- Have large, forward-facing chelicerae, tipped with fangs that fold parallel to each other.
- Unlike spiders in Araneomorphae infraorder, which pinch their fangs together to bite, mygalomorph spiders rear up, flip their fangs forward, and stab downwards.
- Have eight small eyes, two pairs of book lungs, and at least one pair of long spinnerets that extend past the abdomen (Bradley 2012).
- Most live in burrows in the soil.
Space-filling Web Building Spiders
North Carolina Species Include:
- Long-bodied Cellar Spider (Pholcus phalangiodes)
General Characteristics of Space-filling Web Building Spiders
- These spiders build three-dimensional webs that are known informally as “cobwebs”.
- Webs appear constructed of tangled strands that fill a space with criss-crossed silk.
- Very effective at trapping prey.
- Spiders lie in wait until prey collides with the web, then rush out to attack.
- Cellar spiders are often found in dark, quiet, moist areas, even in homes and buildings.