Cross Orbweaver
HarmlessAraneus diadematus · also called European garden spider, cross spider, diadem spider
The cross orbweaver is an introduced European spider now common across the northern United States. The white cross of spots on its swollen abdomen makes it one of the easiest orbweavers to name, and it is the spider most often responsible for the web you walk through on the way to the car.
Quick facts
- Bite risk
- Harmless. Extremely reluctant to bite and unable to do harm if it did.
- Size
- Body 6–20 mm. Body from a pea to a thumbnail, with a distinctly round, swollen abdomen.
- Appearance
- Round, bulbous, orange-brown to grey abdomen with a distinct cross of white spots on top. Legs banded light and dark.
- Web
- Classic wheel-shaped orb web, often across doorways, between fence posts, and in shrubs.
- Found in
- garden, woods, indoors
- Family
- Araneidae
- Range
- 24 US states
How to identify a cross orbweaver
- White spots forming a cross on top of a swollen round abdomen.
- Banded legs.
- Neat vertical orb web rebuilt daily.
- Most conspicuous in late summer and autumn as females reach full size.
How it behaves
Sits head-down in the hub or hides in a curled leaf retreat at the edge with a signal line to the web.
What the cross orbweaver is confused with
One observation settles each of these.
Marbled orbweavers have a smooth marbled orange or cream abdomen with no white cross.
Where it lives
If you think you were bitten
- Most suspected spider bites are not spider bites. Studies of patients presenting with a “spider bite” repeatedly find that the large majority are bacterial skin infections — frequently MRSA — which need antibiotics rather than reassurance. A spreading, painful, pus-filled sore is far more likely to be an infection than a spider.
- Wash it, ice it, and watch it. Clean the area with soap and water, apply a cold pack, and keep an eye on it.
- Get medical care if the wound spreads or darkens, if you develop cramping, sweating, fever or severe abdominal pain, or if you are confident it was a widow or a recluse.
- Bring the spider only if it is already dead and to hand. Do not go looking for it. Doctors treat symptoms, not species.
In the US, the Poison Help line is 1-800-222-1222. This site is a reference, not medical advice.