Furrow orbweaver

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed
LC - Least Concern

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

Description

Furrow orbweaver is a small to medium-sized, drably colored, nocturnal orbweaver. It occurs in Europe, Asia, and North America. It occurs throughout the United States and Canada. It is very common across the eastern half of the U.S., but in the West, its distribution is largely restricted to cities and towns. While accidental human transport likely aids their arrival, human land use creates the necessary microclimates—irrigated vegetation, artificial water bodies, and outdoor lighting—that allow this moisture-dependent species to thrive in otherwise arid landscapes.

Furrow orbweaver is found on bushes in forests, on lake shores, and in other damp places. It is also found around human-built structures, including bridges, barns, boat houses and docks, fences, and windows of houses.

The female is ⅜″ to ½″ (9 to 12 mm) in length. The male is much smaller, ¼″ to ⅜″ (7 to 9 mm) in length. The legspan is 11⁄16″ to 1⅜″ (18 to 35 mm). The overall color is brown or grayish brown (dark) and whitish or light brown (pale).

The front part of the body (cephalothorax) is longer than wide and is flattened. The upper side (carapace) is dark with a narrow pale band on each lateral margin. A furrow (cervical groove) extends forward and toward each side from about the center of the carapace. It defines the boundary between the head and the thorax. Another furrow (dorsal groove) extends in the middle from behind the cervical groove toward the rear of the carapace.

There are eight eyes arranged in two parallel rows of four. On each side the lateral eyes are widely separated from the middle (median) eyes and are almost touching each other. The back (posterior) row is curved backward, the front (anterior) row is nearly straight. All the eyes are small, but the median eyes are somewhat larger than the lateral eyes.

The abdomen is round or broadly elliptical, it is somewhat flattened above, and there are no humps. It is light with a dark, usually unbroken, leaf-shaped mark (folium). The underside of the abdomen is black with a pair of conspicuous, white, comma-shaped marks.

Coloration ranges from pale tan to dark brownish black. On dark individuals, the carapace is deep brown and the folium is broadly darkened along the margins with a paler central field. On lighter individuals, the carapace is yellowish-brown to light brown, and the folium is predominantly pale with its dark border reduced to a thin, unbroken scalloped line. Intermediate specimens showing varying degrees of shading between these two extremes are common.

Size

Female total length: ⅜″ to ½″ (9 to 12 mm)

Male total length: ¼″ to ⅜″ (7 to 9 mm)

Legspan: 11⁄16″ to 1⅜″ (18 to 35 mm)

Web

The web is circular, vertical or nearly so, and up to in 24″ (61 cm) diameter, with 12 to 20 radii, widely-spaced spirals, and a carelessly finished hub.

Similar Species

Bordered orbweaver (Larinioides patagiatus)

Gray cross spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)

Habitat

Forests, lake shores, and in other damp places, and around human-built structures

Ecology

Foraging

Web builder (Passive Hunter)

Prey

Behavior

Diurnal hiding behavior is highly opportunistic. In natural vegetation, it rarely constructs an elaborate standalone silk retreat, instead taking cover in nearby seed heads, folded leaves, or lower stem foliage—often at a noticeable distance from the web hub. On artificial structures or smooth surfaces that lack natural crevices, it adapts by lining a crack or spinning a compact silken shelter adjacent to the frame.

Life Cycle

Unlike other orbweavers, adults survive harsh Minnesota winters and live for up to two years. Subadults and mated females produce cryoprotectants in fall to lower their freezing point, allowing them to withstand temperatures down to extreme negatives. To shield themselves from desiccating winds and ice formation, they seek out dry, sheltered microhabitats in tight structural cavities or in the hidden, insulated space that forms between the surface of the ground and the bottom of a snowpack.

Season

May through October

Distribution

Sources

24, 30, 82, 83.

Larinioides cornutus (Clerck, 1757) in Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Abreu, C., Acero P, A., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (2026-07-17 XR). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgykv