European Garden Spider
The European garden spider (Araneus diadematus) is a common orb-weaving spider with a white cross on its abdomen. It spins the wheel-shaped web seen glistening on autumn mornings.
The European garden spider (Araneus diadematus) is a common orb-weaving spider with a white cross on its abdomen. It spins the wheel-shaped web seen glistening on autumn mornings.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open European Garden Spider in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Ecdysozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Engineering a Web
The spider builds a frame, radial threads and then a spiral of sticky capture silk, using different glands for each thread type. Many orb weavers rebuild the web every day, eating the old one to recycle proteins. Vibrations in the threads tell it when something is caught.
Spiders in Space
In 1973 two garden spiders, Arabella and Anita, were taken aboard Skylab to see if they could spin webs in microgravity. Their first webs were irregular, but the spiders adapted and soon spun nearly normal webs.
Silk as a Material
Spider silk is stronger than steel by weight and stretchy, and is of great interest for materials science. See Black Widow Spider.
European Garden Spider at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Araneus diadematus |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Class | Arachnida |
| Order | Araneae |
| Family | Araneidae |
| Field Guide group | Ecdysozoa: Arachnida (Spiders, Scorpions & Allies) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Orange-brown orb weaver with a white cross pattern on the abdomen; spins a new circular web almost every night. |
| Order | Araneae |
| Web type | Orb web |
See Also
- Black Widow Spider — a cobweb weaver
- Zebra Jumping Spider — a hunting spider