ARACHNIDA > ARANEAE > Araneidae > Araneus

This popular family consists of 32 species of spider that spin spiral, wheel-shaped orb webs. Although quite a few of the species are rare or nationally scarce, a good number are considered to be relatively common and widespread. Most are brightly coloured with distinctive markings that usually enable identification to at least generic level.

There are quite a few interesting species that I would like to find, so in anticipation of being able to extend my current list I've split the family down into various sets.

This first page will be reserved for the largest genus Araneus, which includes seven species.

The most well-known orb web spider is the common and abundant Garden Spider, Araneus diadematus, which has a light brown carapace with a covering of white hairs and an extremely variable ground coloured abdomen that can range from a pale yellowy-green through to dark brown. The dorsal surface has a very distinctive tapering, wavy-edged folium that is usually a shade or two darker than the body and outlined with a pale band. And, centrally at the front of the abdomen, there's the characteristic creamy-white, cross-like marking that, in most cases, makes the species unmistakable. Although highly variable in colour, most individuals are regarded as the 'typical form', but there's also a far less common 'red form' that may be seen. Females are noticeably larger than the males with a far more rounded abdomen.

Apart from Araneus diadematus, the only other member of the genus that's listed as widespread and supposedly common, is the Four-spotted Orbweb Spider, Araneus quadratus. To date, I've only managed to photograph a male which is a pity, because not wanting to unfairly disparage his appearance, mature females of the species can be extremely attractive if well-marked. The colour of the abdomen varies from pale yellow to bright orange, cherry red or olive green according to the field guide, but always showing four clear white spots.

The five remaining species are all regarded as uncommon or scarce with either scattered local or regional distribution. With the exception of the Strawberry Spider, Araneus alsine, it looks as though the others could possibly be found in my general area.

At present, I've only seen one of these elusive species, the Marbled Orbweb Spider, Araneus marmoreus, which I was lucky enough to find amongst pondside vegetation during a short break just across the Dorset border in South Devon. I actually managed to locate three females and a male, which was nice, and as I was staying at the location, I was able to photograph them on two consecutive days. The species has two distinct colour forms var.pyramidatus as seen here, and the much rarer var.marmoreus that only occurs on a few fen and heathland sites in eastern England. I'm not going to try describing the species other than to say that I believe that the females featured below are very typical. The problem I had, was initially thinking that the male was a different species as it appeared to be keeping away from the nearest female, but it then tried to approach on a couple of occasions and it quickly became apparent that he was trying his luck. Unfortunately for him, the much larger female was clearly not interested.

Continues on the next page ....

Updated, Jan.25 (v.4)