Skip to content

Search Results Micrathena

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Arrowshaped Micrathena

… 13, 2009

About 2cm long, less than 1cm at the widest part

KC

Salem Ohio

Arrowshaped Micrathena

Hi KC,

This is a spider known as the Arrowshaped Micrathena, Micrathena sagittata.

Posted 14 October 2009 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) °

Another Spined Micrathena

Spined Micrathena
October 6, 2009
Dearest Bugman,
I just wanted to share a photo of this fashionable spider I found at my friend’s grandmother’s house on 8/16/09. I’m pretty sure it’s a Spined Micrathena.
shutterbug
Celina, OH

Spined Micrathena

Spined Micrathena

Hi shutterbug,
Thanks for sending us your photo of a Spined Micrathena.  We posted an image earlier today, and it is very nice to have another recent example for comparison.

Posted 07 October 2009 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) °

Spined Micrathena

Black horned spider
October 6, 2009
This beauty is spinning away in my side yard. She has a preportionally huge black abdomen with horns and light colored markings on it. The underside is cone-shaped and ridged.
Jennnifer In Nyack
Nyack, NY

Spined Micrathena

Spined Micrathena

Dear Jennifer,
Your spider is a Spined Micrathena, Micrathena gracilis, a harmless Spiny Orbweaver.

Posted 06 October 2009 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) °

South American Micrathena: Arrowshaped Orbweaver

Unknown spiked spider, Black, Yellow and Red, Guyana, South America
September 12, 2009
I found this spider in Guyana, South America. Taken August 21, 2009, during the start of the dry season. It was in Surama Village, located in the North Rupununi Savannah. It’s location is 4 degrees north latitude and 59 degrees west longitude. This village is where the rainforest meets the savannah. The spider was in the rainforest, not savannah. This picture is somewhat overexposed from sunlight, but the spiders back end is bright yellow (looks kind of white in the picture), with a little bit of red and black. The yellow continues to it’s upper body. I estimate that it measures about 1 to 1.5 inches from head to end.
Bryan Chautems
North Rupununi, Guyana, South America

South American Micrathena

South American Micrathena

Hi Brian,
Perhaps one of our readers will be able to supply you with an exact species.  We are relatively certain your spider is an Orbweaver in the genus Micrathena.  There is a North American species, Micrathena sagittata, that looks quite similar and is known as the Arrowshaped Micrathena.  That species is represented on BugGuide.  Your individual may be closely related or even be a subspecies.

Update
South American Micrathena: Arrowshaped Orbweaver – Unknown spiked spider, Black, Yellow and Red, Guyana, South America
September 12, 2009
Hi Daniel:
I think it pretty much has to be Micrathena, as you suggest.  It does look very similar to M. sagittata and that species does occur as for south as Guyana, but I don’t think that’s it.  It looks more like another wide ranging species, M. schreibersi.  As is so often the case, this species is variable and the red highlights are not always present, but most of the other prominent features seem to match as well.  If I may hedge a little, however, this is a very abundant genus with over 100 species, almost all of them neotropical, so there may be other candidates as well. Regards.
Karl

Posted 12 September 2009 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (1) °

Arrowshaped Micrathena

Spider with reddish brown legs and yellow & black pointy back
September 8, 2009
I was sitting on my backyard swing and my 18 mos old brought my attention to this spider, she thought it was a bee. I put it in a bug jar and took a couple pictures of it. It is between 1/4-1/4 inches long. We live in SW Pennsylvania And it’s nearly fall here. I’m just wondering what kind of spider it is, I’ve never seen anything like it around here before ! I am petrified of spiders, so I can’t believe I actually got this in a jar.. haha Any information you have would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
Momma of Three
South Western PA

Arrowshaped Micrathena

Arrowshaped Micrathena

Dear Momma of Three,
Suddenly we have gotten quite behind in our responses.  The new semester with budget cuts has brought added responsibility to our already busy lives.  This is an Arrowshaped Micrathena, Micrathena sagittata, a harmless Orbweaver.  You can read about the species on BugGuide.

Posted 10 September 2009 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) °

Spined Micrathena

Spiny Spider
July 13, 2009
Found this guy in my hair yesterday (July 12) during a hike. I’ve never seen a spider like this. My husband didn’t believe it was a spider until it spun its silk to drop off a branch. Still not sure what type of spider it is. Sorry for the quality. We didn’t have our good camera on the hike. :(
Resa
Atlanta, GA

Spined Micrathena

Spined Micrathena

Hi Resa,
This is a Spined Micrathena, Micrathena gracilis, one of the orb weaving spiders.  It ranges over much of eastern North America.  We are amused with your comment about the picture quality, and we can only imagine the resolution of your good camera seeing as so much that we receive are either low resolution images taken with cell phones, or blurry large files taken by people who have no idea how to properly focus their cameras.

Posted 14 July 2009 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) °

Horselubber Grasshopper in Mexico and Tanzanian Grasshopper

Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 7:25 AM
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for identifying my “Spined Micrathena.”  I recently moved from New Hampshire to Mexico and keep finding bugs that I have never seen before.  Doing a Google search for “Spined Micrathena” I noticed that mine was the most colorful I could find.
I hope you can also identify this grasshopper – He is somewhat similar to this one I found in Tanzania in 1993 -
Sincerely,
David Brownell

Horselubber Grasshopper from Mexico

Horselubber Grasshopper from Mexico

Hi David,
The Mexican Grasshopper is a Horse Lubber Grasshopper, Taeniopoda eques, and we suspect the Tanzanian Grasshopper is one of the toxic milkweed grasshoppers in the family Pyrgomorphidae.  It is not an exact match to this specimen we found online, but it has similarities.

probably Milkweed Locust from Tanzania

probably Milkweed Locust from Tanzania

Posted 16 October 2008 § Grasshoppers ‡ Comments (0) °

Spined Micrathena from Mexico

What kind of spider is this?
Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 8:03 AM
I found these two similar spiders on different sides of my house spinning traditional circular webs.
David Brownell
Lake Chapala, Mexico

Spined Micrathena

Spined Micrathena

Hi David,
What a gorgeous photo of a Spined Micrathena, Micrathena gracilis. In addition to Mexico, this species is also found in much of North America.

Posted 16 October 2008 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) °

Arrowshaped Micrathena

Lime-green ‘V’ spider…
Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 12:10 AM
At the end of a camping trip in Rock Island, TN, we were taking down our tents when I found this little critter. Originally, he was on the tent, but I moved him onto a nearby tree with a leaf so he wouldn’t get squished amongst our packing. I’ve never seen this species before and I was just curious as to what type of spider he/she is.
I also wanted to mention I love your site. Through it, I’ve figured out what baby wheel bugs, house centipedes, and female dobsonflies are!
Much thanks,
Sarah Bowers
between middle and east TN

Arrowshaped Micrathena

Arrowshaped Micrathena

Hi Sarah,
This little beauty is a female Arrowshaped Micrathena, Micrathena sagittata.  It is a harmless orbweaver that is found in wooded areas.

Posted 14 October 2008 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) °

Possibly Spined Orbweaver frow parts unknown

Strange spider
I was wondering if you could help me identify this spider. A friend of mine shot it while on a trip and shared this photo with me.
Francisco

Hi Francisco,
We have been known to ignore identification requests that do not include location information, but your spider is so interesting, we are posting despite not knowing where it is from. We suspect it is in the genus Micrathena. It matches a photo of Micrathena gracilis, the Spined Orbweaver, we located on Bugguide quite closely.

Posted 07 April 2008 § Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

Unknown Species of Crab Spider from Panama

Panama spider
What a great site! And so many knowledgeable experts wading in. Last month (November 2007) I photographed the spider in the attached photo along the Pipeline Road, Panama. The "stalk" it is sitting on is about the size of my index finger, so it is fairly large. We have spiders in Michigan that ambush prey on goldenrod and asters, but they’re much smaller and shaped quite differently. Any ideas? Thanks!
Allen Chartier

Hi Allen,
The spider from Michigan you mentioned is the a Crab Spider, Misumena vatia, also known as a Flower Spider or Goldenrod Spider. We agree that this gorgeous Panamanian species is in the same family, Thomisidae. We will try to properly identify the exact species, but that might be difficult. Right now we will post your letter and image in the hopes that someone can identify the species. Meanwhile, we really need to plant our sugar snap peas and prepare for Christmas Eve dinner.

Daniel,
Thanks very much! Yes, I am familiar with Misumena vatia, as well as Misumenops asperatus, which both occur in Michigan (and I have photos of both). The abdomen of this Panamanian spider also reminds me of our Micrathena gracilis and M. sagittata, but they are smaller and in the orbweaver family (Araneidae), definitely not related. I have many photos on my website, including a lot of insects but so far it is mainly butterflies, dragonflies, and beetles. I haven’t found time yet to put up any of my spiders and other insects.
Allen Chartier
Website: http://www.amazilia.net
Michigan HummerNet: http://www.amazilia.net/MIHummerNet

Posted 24 December 2007 § Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

Spined Micrathena

Bugman here they come!
I’ve got a few pics of some bugs I haven’t been able to identify. Have fun! I look forward to seeing what you come up with. If you need better res images I can send them. … (Bug3-1 & Bug 3-2) This is a strange kind of spider we’ve found outside a few times. We live in South Western Michigan. I’ve got a lot more and am going to be putting up a nature notebook of all my findings from SW Michigan and my "world" travels. Thanks!
Dave Williams
St. Joseph, MI, USA

Hi Dave,
Your spiny spider is a Spined Micrathena, Micrathena gracilis. BugGuide has numerous images.

Posted 26 July 2007 § Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

Page 1 of 212»