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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynes » Orb Weavers (Araneidae) » Micrathena » Spined Micrathena (Micrathena gracilis)
Photo#31249
Spined Micrathena - Micrathena gracilis - female
Copyright © 2005 Joanne Shuman

Spined Micrathena - Micrathena gracilis - Female
Stafford, Stafford County, Virginia, USA
September 10, 2005
On Government Island. Up high between two trees. He saw me coming in close and flew up the line or else I touched the web somewhere. I have never seen anything like this. At first I thought it was a spider with prey and then after a dozen images or so, I realized it was part of the spider. Possible Hackled Orb Weaver, Uloboridae? I'm stumped. Help appreciated.
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Contributed by Joanne Shuman on 11 September, 2005 - 10:33pm

got bit
ya me an my bud got bit by one of them and we want to know if its deadly to people so does anyone know if it is ?
… jayman101, 20 August, 2008 - 5:08pm login or register to post comments

yea i live in middletown ny.
yea i live in middletown ny.
and there's tons of them around here.
they love to make webs in between trees at like 4-6 feet tall
so it gets on your face if your not careful.

i always thought the thing on the back was full of venom or something
it looks scary so i never bothered them.
but i will say i think the biggest nicest web i ever saw was from one of these. and it was right in the middle.
… geoponzoni, 27 September, 2007 - 5:44pm login or register to post comments

Spined Micrathena
This is a female Spined Micrathena (Micrathena gracilis). She's a harmless, little orb-weaver. Very nice image! :)
… Christopher Hunt, 11 September, 2005 - 10:37pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks, Christopher
I thought I had seen similar images in the guide at one time but could not find them. Too many spiders of which I know nothing.
… Joanne Shuman, 11 September, 2005 - 10:55pm login or register to post comments

Micrathena gracilis
I took a shot this week that was so close to this one I thought I had lost my mind. One of the commonest late summer weavers. The hikers nemesis because it seems to prefer putting its webs on trails at just head and hat height.
… Herschel Raney, 11 September, 2005 - 10:36pm login or register to post comments

 
Funny you should mention...
...the hikers nemesis. That is what happened to me on the way back. I had lost my eye cup and was retracing my steps. I found the eye cup and walked into the web.
… Joanne Shuman, 11 September, 2005 - 11:03pm login or register to post comments

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