Arachnida (Arachnids)

This page features images galleries that highlight the Araneae (Spiders) part of Arachnida (Arachnids). The first gallery includes species from three families and the second features spider webs. I photographed in France, Singapore, Seychelles, Trinidad and UK. See the Taxonomy note at the end of this page.

Spiders

Lynx Spider (Oxyopes sp.) in flower ready to ambush insect pollinators at Singapore Botanic Gardens

Trinidad Chevron Tarantula (Psalmopoeus cambridgei) in handrail on Asa Wright Nature Centres Main Drive in Trinidad

Palm Spider (Nephila inaurata) dorsal View at the Spice Garden on Mahé in Seychelles

Palm Spider (Nephila inaurata) ventral View at the Spice Garden in Seychelles

Golden Orb Web Spider (Nephila pilipes), Dorsal view with spiderlings at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in Singapore

Golden Orb Web Spider (Nephila pilipes) ventral view with spiderlings at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in Singapore

Golden Orb Web Spider (Nephila pilipes) ventral view eating prey at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in Singapore

Batik Golden Orb Web Spider (Nephila antipodiana) dorsal side at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in Singapore

Batik Golden Orb Web Spider (Nephila antipodiana) ventral side at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in Singapore

Long-jawed Orbweaver (Tetragnatha sp.) ventral view at the Central Catchment Nature Reserve in Singapore

Northern Jewelled Spider (Gasteracantha fornicata) Female ventral view at Cairns Botanic Gardens in Queensland

Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi) dorsal view in web at La Blanquiere Haute in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France

Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi) eating prey at La Blanquiere Haute in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France

Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus) [European] dorsal view in web at Castle Bottom National Nature Reserve in Hampshire

Garden Spider [European] (Araneus diadematus) ventral view in vegetation at Barcus in the Pyrenees

Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi) ventral view eating prey at La Blanquiere Haute in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France

Spider Notes

Displayed images from lynx, tarantulas, and orbweavers spider families feature.

Lynx Spiders are ambush hunters with over 500 species distributed worldwide. They blend in with vegetation and flowers where they wait for prey, such as bees, to visit. They have six eyes, two up, two down and two to the side arranged as a hexagon.

Tarantulas are nocturnal ambush hunters with a tropical, subtropical and desert distribution. There are more than 850 species. They do not spin webs but may spin silk to line hiding places and sometimes build tunnel webs. I photographed the Trinidad Chevron Tarantula at night using flash.

Images of orbweavers include the small common garden spider and two large tropical spiders: the palm spider and golden orb spider. The colourful wasp spider is one of my favourites. The third-largest family is the orbweavers, with around 3000 species found throughout the world except in the cold extremes.

Spider Webs

Misty Tree and Spiders Webs at Castle Bottom National Nature Reserve in Hampshire

Unidentified Spider inside a web at Tarn Gorges in France

Tangled Web at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in Singapore

Sheet Web in heather and shrubs at Castle Bottom National Nature Reserve in Hampshire

Orb Web at Castle Bottom National Nature Reserve in Hampshire

Funnel Web at Castle Bottom National Nature Reserve in Hampshire

Orb Web in Morning Dew in a Yateley Garden in Hampshire

Spiders Web Notes

There are many types of spider webs, including funnel, orb, sheet and tangle/cob. The gallery features an example of four types. They make interesting photographic subjects, especially in misty conditions and when dew forms on the silk.

Spider Taxonomy

The Araneae (Spiders) order are part of the class Arachnida (Arachnids) placed in the phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) that probably evolved around 400 million years ago.

There are over 50,000 described species placed in over 100 families, three features in the gallery:
(1) Araneidae (Orbweavers).
(2) Oxyopidae (Lynx Spiders),
(3) Theraphosidae (Tarantulas).