Minnesota Seasons - marbled orbweaver

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Conservation Status

Photo by Christa Rittberg

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed


	Description
	Marbled orbweaver is a medium-sized orb weaver spider. Females are much larger than males, ⅜″ to 11 ⁄16″ long and 1 ⁄16″ to ¼″ wide, with a legspan up to 17 ⁄16″. Males are about half as big, ¼″ to ⅜″ long and 1 ⁄16″ to ⅛″ wide. Like all spiders, it has two body parts. The hardened plate (carapace) covering the front part (cephalothorax) is light brown or orange with a narrow dark stripe down the middle and on each side. The abdomen is and rounded and smooth, with no bumps toward the rear. On the female it is large and rounded. On the male it is proportionately smaller and more elongated. The color and pattern of the abdomen is highly variable both regionally and seasonally. It has a white, yellow, orange, brownish, or pink background color. There are always highly contrasted black, gray, and white markings, at least at the front edge, that give it a marbled appearance. These markings may fade as the season progresses. The legs are 11 ⁄16″ to 17 ⁄16″ long and spiny. Males have proportionally longer legs than females. The ends of the legs are banded with black and either clear or white. The third (femur) and fourth (patella) leg segments are often light brown or orange, the same color as the carapace. Sometimes these segments are banded. The face is small. There are eight eyes, all of them small, in two rows.

	Size
	Female Body Length: ⅜″ to 11 ⁄16″ Male Body Length: ¼″ to ⅜″ Legspan: 11 ⁄16″ to 17 ⁄16″

	Similar Species



	Habitat
	Shrubs, tree branches, or tall grass; woodland edges, stream banks, gardens, fences, bridges, and other human-made constructions


	Biology
	Season
	Spring to the first hard freeze in fall

	Behavior
	Marbled orbweavers spin a large circular web that hangs vertically. This web is called an “orb”, which gives this family of spiders its common name. The orb is typically a closed hub, 20″ to 30″ in diameter, with 15 to 35 spokes (radii) that are not sticky. The radii extend to the center of the hub. They are connected to each other by sticky threads that spiral outward from the center. The spider also makes a retreat out of silk near one edge of the orb. The retreat is connected by a signal thread to the center of the web, allowing the spider to feel vibrations of prey. The web is usually consumed and a new web constructed each evening. They will drop to the ground and hide if approached. Males are unable to capture prey larger than themselves.

	Life Cycle
	Several hundred orange eggs are deposited in a mass and then wrapped in silk producing a flattened spherical egg sac. The egg sac is then attached to nearby vegetation or to the spider’s retreat. Some eggs hatch in late summer or fall, others overwinter in egg sacs. Spiderlings disperse by “ballooning”. They climb a branch, blade of grass, or fencepost, and release a long thread of silk. The silk thread catches the wind or even a light breeze and the spiderling floats to a new site. Adults are active from mid-summer to the first hard freeze in fall.

	Food
	Flying insects


	Distribution
			Sources 7, 24, 29, 30, 82.
	10/6/2022

	Occurrence
	Common


	Taxonomy
	Class	Arachnida (arachnids)
	Order	Araneae (spiders)
	Suborder	Araneomorphae (typical spiders)
	Infraorder	Entelegynae (entelegyne spiders)
	Superfamily	Araneoidea (orbweavers and allies)
	Family	Araneidae (orbweavers)
	Subfamily	Araneinae (typical orbweavers)
	Genus	Araneus (angulate and roundshouldered orbweavers)

	Subordinate Taxa
	marbled orbweaver (Araneus marmoreus marmoreus) marbled orbweaver (Araneus marmoreus trapezius [=Araneus marmoreus pyramidatus?])

	Synonyms
	Araneus raji Araneus raji betulae Araneus tusigia

	Common Names
	marbled orb weaver marbled orbweaver marbled orb-weaver

Glossary

Carapace

The hard, upper (dorsal), shell-like covering (exoskeleton) of the body or at least the thorax of many arthropods and of turtles and tortoises. On crustaceans, it covers the cephalothorax. On spiders, the top of the cephalothorax made from a series of fused sclerites.

Cephalothorax

The front part of a spider’s body, composed of the head region and the thoracic area fused together. Eyes, legs, and antennae are attached to this part.

Femur

On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.


	Visitor Photos

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	Alfredo Colon
















	Dan W. Andree

	Marbled Orb Weaver... I think that is what it is. It was clinging to the under eves of a building in rural Norman Co. Mn. today 10-5-22. Interesting spider. Neat markings and color.


	TheDreadedDuke

	right by the front step.



	Jim S.

	Right next to the doorbell on the front door.



	Dawn

	spotted doing fall yard work



	Martha Grussing

	This spider was inside a second floor bedroom of our house in Hastings in Dakota County. It may have passed through an unused window air conditioning unit. We live in town (not in the country) a few blocks from the historic preservation district (maybe that’s where this beauty was headed).


	Cheri

	She found a corner in my little greenhouse on the deck.



	Larry Waddell

	A female was found dining on its catch in a flower garden in our backyard.



	Holly B.




	Aaron Hebeisen

	Female found building vertical web in closet doorway. 1/2” long, quarter-sized spread out.



	Craig & Cheryl Olson

	Spotted yesterday in Houston County MN close to Hokah.



	Christa Rittberg







	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

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	Visitor Videos

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	Other Videos


	Marbled Orb Weaver (Araneus Marmoreus) Handling IloveSPIDERZ

	About Published on Jan 2, 2015 Here is a video of me handling a Marbled Orb-weaving spider. This was filmed in North Carolina. I know this species also exists in Upstate New York. Thanks for watching!



	Marbled Orb Weaver Spider Carl Rasmussen

	About Published on Oct 11, 2013 We saw several of these Spider weaving there webs in Uhwarrie National Forest in North Carolina. Taken with a Fugi film XP Waterproof camera



	Marbled Orb Weaver Spider - Araneus marmoreus socialgarbage2

	About Published on Oct 5, 2011 Found this little lady perched up on my downspout, happily working away on a beetle of some kind. While filming her, I got lucky and got a shot of another beetle flying into her web and her going after it! for more info on the Marbled Orb Weaver Spider : http://www.cirrusimage.com/Arachnid_marbled_orbweaver.htm music : Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0" http://incompetech.com/music/



	Araneus Marmoreus Var. Pyramidatus found in my garden! PaoloDS01

	About Published on Oct 22, 2014 A beautiful spider that I found in my garden: it's an araneus marmoreus var. pyramidatus. It's big!



	Marbled orb-weaver - Araneus marmoreus ookkonaaoulusta

	About Published on Sep 8, 2015 A female Marbled orb-weaver hanging and climbing. Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 Lens: Canon Macro Lens FD 50mm 1:3.5.

Camcorder


Visitor Sightings

Report a sighting of this arachnid.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location.



KB 10/23/2022	Location: Lanesboro, MN by camper.



Alfredo Colon 8/24/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Alfredo Colon 8/7/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Dan W. Andree 8/3/2022	Location: rural Norman Co. Mn. Marbled Orb Weaver... I think that is what it is. It was clinging to the under eves of a building in rural Norman Co. Mn. today 10-5-22. Interesting spider. Neat markings and color.



TheDreadedDuke 11/8/2020	Location: Alexandria, Minnesota right by the front step.



Jim S. September 2018	Location: Mankato, MN Right next to the doorbell on the front door.



BJ 9/17/2019	Location: Alexandria, MN Beautiful



Dawn 9/4/2019	Location: Clear Lake, MN spotted doing fall yard work



Martha Grussing 8/30/2019	Location: Hastings in Dakota County This spider was inside a second floor bedroom of our house in Hastings in Dakota County. It may have passed through an unused window air conditioning unit. We live in town (not in the country) a few blocks from the historic preservation district (maybe that’s where this beauty was headed).



Alfredo Colon 8/23/2019	Location: Woodbury, MN



Alfredo Colon 8/21/2019	Location: Woodbury, MN



Alfredo Colon 8/6/2019	Location: Woodbury, MN



Shannon Strong 8/4/2019	Location: Wyoming MN Found under a green bean lead in my garden



Jane P 11/8/2018	Location: Eden Prairie, MN She was all curled up in a ball in our landscaping rocks. I thought is was a fancy acorn. I brought it in the house and the legs came out!! Wow!



Xjacy 10/26/2018	Location: Faribault, MN, Rice county She was strolling slowly along our outside doormat. So beautiful! I've lived in the country a long time and I've never seen one prior to today. I've learned a lot about them on this website - thank you!



Jennan Kellogg 9/17/2018	Location: Crosby Farm Regional Park, St. Paul, MN The Marbled Orb-weaver made a large web in the fork of a tree trunk near the Wetland Trail of the Crosby Farm Regional Park. It's web showed signs of damage with evidence that the spider--a female, if I'm not mistaken--had repaired it.



Larry Waddell 9/16/2018	Location: Oak Grove, MN A female was found dining on its catch in a flower garden in our backyard.



Holly B. 9/13/2018	Location: Elk River, MN



Aaron Hebeisen 9/12/2018	Location: Lake City, MN Female found building vertical web in closet doorway. 1/2” long, quarter-sized spread out.



Hayden 9/9/2018	Location: Oak Grove, MN - Anoka County It was spinning a web on the side of our motor-home.



Sawyer Olson 9/7/2018	Location: Scott County Found 7 feet up in a maple tree near its web. It had made a home inside a curved leaf.



Erich and Jacque Saul 8/26/2018	Location: our doorframe! Montgomery,MN... Le Seuer Co. Beautifully bright spider! The first time I have ever seen one, striking!



Craig & Cheryl Olson 10/22/2017	Location: Houston County, MN Spotted yesterday in Houston County MN close to Hokah.



MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

Mississippi River County Park