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Comments & ID Thoughts
I think this is a Hertz’s Orb-weaver or barn spider.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Sep 30, 2018
- Photographed: Sep 30, 2018
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Omaha , Nebraska, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: Man-made structure (building wall, fences, etc.)
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes:
I don’t know how to determine sex.
Hi. Hentz orb weaver would be correct, note the dark femurs. With most spiders, males usually have a smaller abdomen, likely longer legs,and mature,the pedipalps often swollen,bulbous, or sclerotized on the ends
They often have only an epigastric furrow on he ventral anterior abdomen, females have epigynum.
Some few spiders it is very hard visually o determine gender, yet a few have sexual dimorphism, genders looking nothing alike.
Thanks BugmanDan. I am in no way associated with agriculture or entomology. Although I have a science background, some explanation of the the anatomical terms would be appreciated.
Hi. Sorry, I tend to drift from layman terms. The leg femurs are the segments that look red in your photo, the abdomen is the butt segment, cephalothorax is the head/body segment.The pedipalps are the two appendages by the face, The mouth parts(chelicerae) are between these.
The female epigynum is the sex organ between the book lungs on the bottom near the front of the abdomen. An anatomy video that may help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86tp3asD9kM
Thanks again. Very helpful. This is my new new neighbor who decided to weave a web across my back door. I got to watch her weave this one. It reminded me of “Charlotte’s Web.”