- Animals
- ›Arthropods
- ›Chelicerates
- ›Arachnids
- ›Spiders
- ›Typical Spiders
- ›Entelegyne Spiders
- ›Orbweavers and Allies
- ›Orbweavers
Typical Orbweavers
Araneinae
Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, including many well-known large or brightly colored garden spiders. With almost 5,000 described species in about 200 genera worldwide, the Araneidae comprise one of the largest family of spiders (with the Salticidae and Linyphiidae). Araneid webs are constructed in a stereotypical fashion, where a framework of nonsticky silk is built up before the spider adds a final spiral of silk covered in sticky droplets.
52 branches of this subfamily, most-observed first
Angulate and Roundshouldered Orbweavers
genusAraneus
Spotted Orbweavers
genusNeoscona
Furrow Spiders
genusLarinioides
Cucumber Spiders
genusAraniella
Trashline Orbweavers
genusCyclosa
Mangora
genusMangora
Nuctenea
genusNuctenea
Eriophora
genusEriophora
Eustala
genusEustala
Verrucosa
genusVerrucosa
Metepeira
genusMetepeira
Australasian Garden Orb-weavers
genusHortophora
Plebs
genusPlebs
Aculepeira
genusAculepeira
Alpaida
genusAlpaida
Parawixia
genusParawixia
Tailed Araneid Spiders
genusEriovixia
Salsa
genusSalsa
Metazygia
genusMetazygia
Star-bellied Orb-web Spiders
genusAcanthepeira
Grass Orb-web Spiders
genusLarinia
Bark Spiders
genusCaerostris
Poltyini
tribePoltyini
Wrap-around Spiders
genusDolophones
Outback Orb-weavers
genusBackobourkia
Striped Orbweavers
genusSinga
Hypsosinga
genusHypsosinga
Acacesia
genusAcacesia
Ocrepeira
genusOcrepeira
Allocyclosa
genusAllocyclosa
Anepsion
genusAnepsion
Molinaranea
genusMolinaranea
Spiky Field Spiders
genusPararaneus
Novaranea
genusNovaranea
Cercidia
genusCercidia
Dubiepeira
genusDubiepeira
Stone-nest Spiders
genusNemoscolus
Australian Ladder-web Spiders
genusTelaprocera
Pronous
genusPronous
Novakiella
genusNovakiella
Leviana
genusLeviana
Kaira
genusKaira
Acroaspis
genusAcroaspis
Bertrana
genusBertrana
Gum nut orb-weavers
genusCarepalxis
Mangrovia
genusMangrovia
Ladder Spiders
genusScoloderus
Colphepeira
genusColphepeira
Wixia
genusWixia
Enacrosoma
genusEnacrosoma
Kangaraneus
genusKangaraneus
Lariniophora
genusLariniophora
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Araneinae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 417879.