#araneidae

[jupiterswasphouse]

[VIDEO AND PHOTOS TAKEN: MARCH 31ST, 2026 | Video and Image IDs: A video and two photos of a dense group of many yellow/orange orb weaver spider babies in a web on a metal fence. In the video, they're less densely packed, and are crawling around the web /End IDs.]

[herpsandbirds]

Arrow-shaped Spiny Orbweaver (Micrathena sagittata), female, family Araneidae, Oaxaca, Mexico

photograph by Halla Draco Sebastian

[wild-e-eep]

Constructing an orb web without a rigid framework requires some elegant engineering.

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

You've heard of stick bugs, now get ready for twig spiders! Members of the genys Poltys are noted for their superb camouflage abilities; when they hold still, their coloration and often unusual allows them to remain hidden while they rest throughout the day.

(Image: A twig spider (Poltys sp.) by Shyamal L.

[razehider]

commonly known as cucumber orbweavers in some languages and watermelon orbweavers in others, the former has always seemed to me like an absurd name for Araniella when they look the most watermelony an animal can possibly look, with this individual being an extreme example. if you see a cucumber here you are unwell

(July 18th, 2025)

[bowelfly]

i'm thinking about bugs

[alphynix]

Greenwaltarachne pamelae was an orb-weaver spider that lived in what is now Montana, USA, during the mid-Eocene, around 46 million years ago.

Known from a single fossil of an adult female, it had a body length of about 2mm (~0.08") and a legspan of around twice that. The specimen is even well-preserved enough to show banded markings on the legs resembling those of some modern orb-weaver species.

It would have lived in what was then a rift valley with a tropical climate, along the shoreline of the ancient 160km long (~100 miles) Lake Kishenehn. It was part of a highly diverse ecosystem full of numerous other invertebrates – including miniscule fairyflies, and even mosquitoes with evidence of blood preserved inside their bodies – and a wide variety of mammals ranging from tiny rodents to large brontotheres.

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References:

Dawson, Mary R., and Kurt N. Constenius. "Mammalian fauna of the middle Eocene Kishenehn Formation, middle fork of the Flathead River, Montana." Annals of Carnegie Museum 85.1 (2018): 25-60. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327631872_Mammalian_Fauna_of_the_Middle_Eocene_Kishenehn_Formation_Middle_Fork_of_the_Flathead_River_Montana

Downen, Matthew R., and Paul A. Selden. "Fossil spiders (Araneae) from the Eocene kishenehn formation of Montana, USA." Palaeontologia Electronica 23.3 (2020): a56. https://doi.org/10.26879/1135

Greenwalt, Dale, and Conrad Labandeira. "The amazing fossil insects of the Eocene Kishenehn Formation in northwestern Montana." Rocks & Minerals 88.5 (2013): 434-441. https://doi.org/10.1080/00357529.2013.809972

Greenwalt, Dale E., et al. "Hemoglobin-derived porphyrins preserved in a Middle Eocene blood-engorged mosquito." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110.46 (2013): 18496-18500. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1310885110

[northerlyy]

Orbweavers (Family Araneidae), juveniles, taken March 26, 2026, in Georgia, US

A whole bunch of tiny, mystery orbweaving spiders attempting to disperse after emerging from their egg sac! Unfortunately for them, due to the wind and their proximity, all of their ballooning silk strands tangled together and became weighed down by dozens of baby spiders all attempting to get away from one another, causing nobody to get anywhere. Most of the babies were camped out on the boardwalk post they emerged out of, but once the silk bridge got long enough to stretch to a neighboring post, it was a mad dash to the other side to get the best spot for liftoff. Everyone was gone by the next day, so they all made it out, by air or by foot!