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Characteristics: Orange, brown, and black; very long legs. Habitat: Most abundant in summer, building large circular-shaped webs in garden areas, eaves, and shrubs around the home. Habits: Also known as garden spiders. Constructs large webs as wide as six feet in diameter. Non-aggressive beneficial spiders that feed on insects.
The orchard orbweavers, Leucauge argyrobapta (White) (Figure 1) and Leucauge venusta (Walckenaer), are attractive small spiders and collectively are some of the most common spiders in the eastern U.S.
The golden silk orb weaver (Trichonephila clavipes) is also commonly known as the banana spider in Florida. Their silk is particularly renowned for its golden hue and extreme strength among spiders (Vollrath 2000).
1 sty 2024 · The spiny orb-weaver is easily recognizable in Florida gardens with its white oval body, black markings, and spiky red spines. This white spider with black spots has an abdomen broader than long. The small Florida spider measures under 0.35” (9 mm) long and 0.5” (13 mm) wide.
Neoscona crucifera (Lucas 1839) and N. domiciliorum (Hentz 1847) are common and conspicuous members of the moist woodland communities in much of Florida. These spiders are beneficial, consuming a variety of insects.
Among the several large orb weavers occurring in Florida is Eriophora ravilla (C.L. Koch 1844). Unlike similar large spiders of the genus Neoscona (Edwards 1984), E. ravilla is not a conspicuous member of the diurnal fauna during its adult stage.
The spiny orb weaver, Gasteracantha cancriformis, might be the most common and easily identified spider in Florida. Also one of the strangest looking. It's found throughout Florida and along the southern tier of the United States as far west as California.
