Wild Facts About The Hentz Orb Weaver Spider
Meet The Hentz Orb Weaver Spider
If a Hentz Orb Weaver Spider has decided to take up residence in your backyard, chances are good that you’ll know about it. These spiders are big, bulky, and conspicuous.
They also happen to live in nearly half of the entire United States, from New England south through Florida, as far north as into Minnesota, and as far west as the southern tip of California.
Frankly, these spiders are hard to miss.
While it may look a little scary, the Hentz Orb Weaver Spider is not dangerous to people. In fact, it plays an important role in nature by helping control insect pests.
Read on to discover fun facts about this spider, how to identify it, and how it lives.
How To Identify Hentz Orb Weaver Spiders
- Hentz Orb Weaver Spiders are sexually dimorphic; females are slightly larger than males.
- Female orb weaver spiders grow to 0.8 inches (2.0 cm) in total body length.
- Male orb weaver spiders grow to 0.6 inches (1.5 cm).
- The color of both sexes varies throughout their range.
- In general, this spider is brown or orange and covered in long, conspicuous hairs.
- Their legs are banded in dark brown and light brown to white.
- Some Hentz Orb Weaver Spiders display little to no markings at all, while others are boldly patterned with a cross-shaped mark on their abdomens. This cross-shaped mark gives this species its specific name “crucifera“.
- The more colorful Hentz Orb Weaver Spiders can be confused with their cousin species, the Spotted Forest Orb Weaver Spider (Neoscona domiciliorum).
- One way to possibly tell the two apart is by their location.
- Hentz Orb Weaver Spiders are more likely to live close to humans and in drier environments than the Spotted Forest Orb Weaver Spider, which prefers damp woodlands (Gaddy 2009).
- In general, this spider is brown or orange and covered in long, conspicuous hairs.
Hentz Orb Weaver Spider Notes
- Hentz Orb Weaver Spiders are nocturnal. During the day, they hide in vegetation or up under the eaves of buildings and the planks of wooden fences.
- These spiders build huge webs that can span an area 36 inches by 44 inches (91.44 cm x 111.76 cm) (Adams 2000, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007771332721).
- The webs hang from tree branches and are anchored to the ground, with the webs’ orbs suspended 3-4 feet above the ground.
- Females spin new webs every evening to repair damage and prepare for the night’s hunting.
- Look for Hentz Orb Weaver Spiders in deciduous forests, open woodlands, and throughout North Carolina suburbs.
- These spiders are some of the most common large orbweaver spiders found living near humans.
- Unlike many animal species, they may benefit from the presence of humans.
- They are especially common in the vegetation around porch and street lights as they appear sensitive to lighted areas that may attract more flying insects than darker areas.
- A study conducted by M. R. Adams published in the Journal of Insect Behavior showed that Hentz Orb Weaver Spiders select areas with the most light in which to construct their webs and build their webs faster in lighted areas.
- Flying insects are attracted to artificial lights, and Hentz Orb Weaver Spiders feed on flying insects captured by their sticky webs.
- By preferentially building their webs every night in lighted areas, Hentz Orb Weaver Spiders reduce the energy they must expend to find sufficient food (Adams 2000, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007771332721).
- These spiders are some of the most common large orbweaver spiders found living near humans.
Hentz Orb Weaver Spider Classification
- Also called the:
- “Arboreal Orbweaver” (Bradley 2012)
- “Cross Orbweaver” (Rose 2022)
- “Barn Spider”
- “Spotted Orb Weaver”
- Previously known by the scientific binomial “Neoscona hentzii” (Bradley 2012).
|
Phylum |
Arthropoda |
|
Class |
Arachnida |
|
Order |
Araneae |
|
Family |
Araneidae (Orbweaver spiders) |
|
Genus |
Neoscona |
|
Species |
N. crucifera |
Binomial Name |
Neoscona crucifera |
Conclusion
The Hentz Orb Weaver Spider is a fascinating part of the natural world. Though its large size and big webs might seem scary at first, this spider is harmless and helpful. It helps keep insect numbers down by eating mosquitoes, flies, and other bugs.
So next time you see a Hentz Orb Weaver in your yard, take a moment to watch it work. You may be surprised by how interesting and useful this spider really is.
