candy-striped spider

Candy-striped spider is an exotic, medium-sized, cobweb spider. It is native to Europe and was introduced into North America. In the United States its range has now spread from Maine and Virginia west to Minnesota and Illinois in the east, and from Washington and California east to Montana and Colorado in the west. In Minnesota it has been reported often in the Metro Region and in Duluth but is mostly absent from the remainder of the state. It is found in open fields, in forest understories, and in roadside ditches. It is seen on the underside of the leaves of brambles, low-growing vegetation, shrubs, and the lower branches of trees. It often appears in dense clumps, sometimes called colonies.

Females are 3⁄16″ to ¼″ (4.3 to 6.8 mm) in length and have a ¼″ to ½″ (6 to 12 mm) legspan. Males are smaller, ⅛″ to 3⁄16″ (3.5 to 5.2 mm) in length.

The front part of the body (cephalothorax) is flat and slightly longer than wide. The upper side (carapace) is pale yellowish-brown and shiny with few hairs. It has a more or less distinct longitudinal stripe in the middle and a thin black line on the lateral margins. There is a depression in the middle that is especially pronounced on the male. The underside is yellow to yellowish-brown with a dark stripe in the middle, a narrow black line on the lateral margins, and a black rear tip.

There are eight eyes arranged in two parallel rows of four eyes each. The front (anterior) row is straight when viewed from the front and the rear (posterior) row is straight when viewed from above. On each side the lateral eyes are widely separated from the middle (median) eyes and are almost touching each other. All of the eyes are small. The anterior median eyes (AME) are dark, the rest of the eyes are pearly. The jaws (chelicerae) have one or two strong teeth on the front margin and one small tooth on the rear margin. The chelicerae on the male are much larger than on the female.

The abdomen is pale yellow and rounded, almost spherical but slightly flattened in front. Candy-striped spider was previously described as three different species based on the color and markings on the abdomen. These are now known to be color variations (morphs) of a single polymorphous species. The former species epithets have survived as form names. The most common is form lineata, with four to seven pairs of black spots on the upper sides (dorsolateral) and no red stripes. Form redimita has two red dorsolateral stripes running the entire length of the abdomen. This is the feature that gives the species its common name. The least common is form ovata, with a single solid red dorsolateral band running the entire length of the abdomen. On the underside of the abdomen of all forms there is a prominent dark line with white borders.

The legs are long and slender. The first pair of legs is the longest, the third pair is the shortest. There are no long hairs on the third segment (femur) and no thick spines on any segment. There is a dark ring at the end of the fifth segment (tibia) on the front pair of legs, but the legs are otherwise unmarked. There is a row of 6 to 10 slightly curved bristles (“comb”) on the last segment (tarsus) of each hind leg. This is the feature that gives the family one of its common names. There are three claws at the end of each tarsus, but these are not visible to the naked eye.

Female Body Length: 3⁄16″ to ¼″ (4.3 to 6.8 mm)

Male Body Length: ⅛″ to 3⁄16″ (3.5 to 5.2 mm)

Legspan: ¼″ to ½″ (6 to 12 mm)

A small, inconspicuous arrangement of tangled threads (cobweb) is constructed on the underside of a leaf. The edges of the leaf are often pulled down slightly and secured with silk threads, creating a retreat. The bent leaf is an indication of the presence of the web below.

Scarce candy-striped spider (Enoplognatha latimana) is morphologically indistinguishable from Enoplognatha ovata without a microscopic examination of the palps of the male or the genitalia of the female. It has also been introduced into the United States. However, aside from a single record in the southeast, its range is restricted to the West Coast.

Open fields, forest understories, and roadside ditches

Eggs are enclosed in a round, bluish-white sac in summer and secured in a rolled leaf. The female guards the sac until the eggs hatch. Spiderlings in the second development stage (instar) disperse after several weeks. They overwinter in leaf liter.

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82, 83.

Enoplognatha ovata candy-striped spider

immature spider

Cobweb Weaver Spider (Enoplognatha ovata) and Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil (Polydrusus sericeus)
Andree Reno Sanborn

COBWEB SPIDER Enoplognatha ovata
Rob Curtis

Comb-footed Spider - Enoplognatha ovata
z

Enoplognatha ovata
Les Leighton

Enoplognatha ovata
ActionMan147

Alfredo Colon
6/21/2024

Location: Albany, NY

Location: Barnes Prairie near hedgerow, Racine Co. WI

Location: Woodbury, MN

Location: Woodbury, MN

Location: Woodbury, MN

Location: Milaca, MN (Mille Lacs County)

Kept finding tiny ones that were harder to identify. Finally found (and smashed, sorry,) Mama (they're webbing up a storm in our garage and have to go.)

Fairly sure they're Enoplognatha ovata 

Location: Barnes Prairie near hedgerow, Racine Co. WI

immature spider