
Spiny Orb Weaver

by Carl Moore
Title
Spiny Orb Weaver
Artist
Carl Moore
Medium
Photograph
Description
June 2015 Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Spiny orb-weavers is a common name for Gasteracantha, a genus of spiders. They are also commonly called Spiny-backed orb-weavers, due to the prominent spines on their abdomen. These spiders can reach sizes of up to 30mm in diameter (measured from spike to spike). Although their abdomen is shaped like a crab shell with spikes, it is not to be confused with a crab spider.
Orb-weavers' bites are generally harmless to humans.
Uploaded
June 23rd, 2015
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Comments (16)

Jacqueline Howe
wow! This is mind blowing and bravo on your capture. I've never seen one of these little beauties before. Great work!

Craig Corwin
Cool and creepy. Nicely captured Carl. On its back there looks like a creepy Halloween clown.
Carl Moore replied:
Yeah very interesting spiders indeed Craig. I think this is where clowns originated their designs from LOL.

David Grant
Fantastic shot Carl, I came across this spider for the first time this June when I was in Orlando. It is a beautiful spider. F/L

Barbara McMahon
Wow! Great capture of this amazing spider Carl! I hope to be in Fort Lauderdale area this winter and will definitely keep my eye out for this wonderful creature! l/f

Richard Goldman
Good capture, Carl. And thanks for educating me that this was NOT a crab spider, which I thought it was. If you do a Google search for crab spider you will see many spiny orb weavers shown as "crab spiders".

John Wills
Never heard of this one, but hat's the craziest spider I've ever seen! thanks for posting it..

Carl Moore
Thank you Geoff! I do not want to find out about any of the bites myself. I took Wikepedia's Information.