Spiderzrule

The spider genus Micrathena contains more than hundred species, most of them Neotropical woodland orb-weavers. Only three species occur in the eastern United States: females of M. gracilis (the Spined Micrathena) have five pairs of conical tubercles on the abdomen, female M. mitrata have two short posterior pairs, and female M. sagittata (the Arrow-shaped Micrathena) have three pairs. Micrathena sagittata is found in the eastern United States and throughout Central America. It is a striking spider with a distinctive arrow-shaped abdomen which is largely yellow, with black depressions above and variable red and black patterning below.

Males are up to 5 millimetres (0.20 in) in length (excluding legs), but females are much larger at around 9 millimetres (0.35 in). The males lack spines. They leave a hole in the center of their web to assist in motion. There is a link to Spined Micrathena below.
Here's some other photos sent in by viewers.

Unidentified Spiders 2012	Unidentified Spiders 2011	Unidentified Spiders 2010
Unidentified Spiders 2009 (1)	Unidentified Spiders 2009 (2)	Unidentified Spiders 2008 (1)
Unidentified Spiders 2008 (2)	Unidentified Spiders 2007 (1)	Unidentified Spiders 2007 (2)
Unidentified Spiders 2007 (3)	Unidentified Spiders 2006 (1)	Unidentified Spiders 2006 (2)
Unidentified Spiders 2006 (3)	Unidentified Spiders 2005 (2)	Unidentified Spiders 2005 (3)
Unidentified Spiders 2005 (1)	Unidentified Spiders 2004 (1)	Unidentified Spiders 2004 (2)
Unidentified Spiders 2003	Unidentified Spiders 2002	Unidentified Spiders 2001
Spiders in Amber	Closeups	Ant Mimicking Spiders
Argiopes/St. Andrew's Cross	Barn Funnel Weaving Spider	Basilica Spiders
Bird Dropping Spiders	Black House Spiders	Bolas Spiders
Brown Recluse Spiders	Candy Stripe Spiders	Common House Spider
Crab Spiders	Cyclosa Conica	Daddy Long Legs
Daring Jumping Spiders	Fishing Spiders	Funnel Web (Aus)
Furrow Spider	Garden Orb Weavers	Giant House Spider
Golden Orb Weavers	Grass spiders/Funnel Weavers	Ground Spiders
Hacklemesh Weavers	Hobo Spiders	Huntsman Spiders
Jewelled Spiders	Jumping Spiders	Ladybird Spiders
Leaf Curling Spiders	Long Jawed Orb Weavers	Lynx Spiders
Marbled Orb Weavers	Micarathena	Mouse Spiders
Mygalomorphs	Net casting Spider	Nursery Web Spiders
Parson Spiders	Pirate Spiders	Pseudoscorpion
Purseweb Spider	Redback Spiders	Red Spotted Ant Mimic Spiders
Running Crab Spiders	Scorpion Spiders	Solfugids/Camel Spiders
Southern House Spiders	Spider Tats	Spitting Spiders
Steatoda	Tailless Whip Scorpions	Tarantulas
Trapdoor Spiders	Venusta Orchard Spiders	Wandering Spiders
White Tailed Spiders	Widow Spiders	Wolf Spiders
Woodlouse Hunters	Yellow & Broad faced Sac Spiders

Spined Micrathena

Arrow Shaped Micrathena

ARROW SHAPED MICRATHENA

Arrow Shaped Micrathena (Micrathena sagittata) is a species of spider belonging to the family Araneidae. It is found in the eastern United States and throughout Central America. This is a striking spider with a distinctive arrow-shaped abdomen which is largely yellow, with black depressions above and variable red and black patterning below (see picture). Males are up to 5 mm in length (excluding legs), females much larger at around 9 mm. The males lack spines. They leave a hole in the centre of their web to assist in motion.
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26 August, 2011: G'Day! I am in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and I took a photo of this beautiful creature in my flower beds~I've never seen anything like it in my life! I don't know how to go about identifying it and saw your website. At this moment, he was washing his face~very cat-like. Thank you for taking a look. What do you think that colored part is? Betsy
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12 June, 2011: I photo'd this spider in Eastern Long Island, New York. Any idea what it is? Cliff
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7 October, 2010: I was wondering if you can determine if this is a spider I have never seen this before
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14 August, 2010: Taken in Mindo, Ecuador. I have several incl more of an angle to see the spikes. Thanks, Josh Click for a larger view
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23 August, 2009: I live in Western Pa and found this spider while working inside of our new chicken coop and was wondering if you could give me some information on it and if it belongs in this area. Thanks Kim

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22 August, 2008: Hello! I recently moved from California to Western Pennsylvania and have a few spiders that I am not sure if they are poisonous or just scary. All of them were found on cars that are just sitting around. If you need the pictures sent as a file to identify, please let me know. I am extremely fearful of spiders and have been having nightmares about these characters so I need to know what they are! My future sleep thanks you! Wendy
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5 August, 2008: Hello, Any idea what this one is? http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcole/2730075498/ I found it while taking a stroll in the woods and almost lost my sh&^. F*&^% awful. Cheers, Dennis P.S. I'm not really a spider fan
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3 September, 2006: Thanks so much. I am just really curious about this little guy, because he is so unusual. I'm sure you'll tell me it's a very common spider, but no one I've shown it to has ever seen one before. Thanks again Sharon
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19 August, 2006: Hello. I like your site, its really great how you help people out. I found this spider in a park in florida and I've looked everywhere on the internet for it but havent found a thing. I would appreciate it SO much if you would be able to tell me anything about it. Thank you so much!
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18 August, 2006: Hi could u tell me what kind of spider this is?
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3 November, 2005: I used your web site to ID this spider as Spined micrathena, isn't it beautiful? Your web site is very informative and the photos are great.
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7 September, 2004 Hey Glen my name is Dave a couple of weeks ago while camping in Michigan I woke up in the morning and found this spider species with its web attached to my tent. I have included one picture with this email but I took about 6 or 7 more pictures. The picture I sent is the top side of the spider. The bottom side of the spider is even more colorful. Let me know if you want to see them. Do you have any idea what kind of spider this is? I have never seen a body shape and or color combinations like this before. Hey maybe its a freak of nature the campgrounds is located next to a nuclear plant !!! Dave	Reply: It is an arrow shaped micrathena - Araneidae Micrathena sagittata, one of the orb weaving family.
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1 September, 2004 My son spotted this interesting spider while we were walking through a wooded area. I must admit that I had never seen a spider quite like this one. We called him a "crab" spider for a long time because the name sounded appropriate at the time, but now, after much searching on the Internet, I believe this an Orb Weaver which can be identified by family/genus/species as a Araneidae Micrathena sagittata. I'm certainly not a spider expert so my identification could be incorrect. This frightful looking fellow looks as though he could defend his own turf without any problem. Dale Parsons The spider and I reside in Tulsa Oklahoma USA	Click for a larger view.
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