#order araneae

“The Bowie spiders are part of a family known as the Ctenidae, or wandering spiders, which mostly live in the tropics. They get their name from their behaviour, forgoing a web in favour of prowling forests for prey such as insects, reptiles and frogs.

When you think of animals, think of this spider, Nephila clavata. The golden orb weaver is found in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. Females grow as large as 2.5 cm while males are less than half that size. This species spends the winter as eggs, hatching in the spring. In late autumn, the females lay their egg sacks on trees and die. 

photo by Trappist_the_monk

When you think of animals, think of this spider, Araneus gemmoides. These spiders are often known as cat-faced spiders due to the shape of their abdomen and the white line with two v's running down its front. They come in many colors.These animals prefer closed spaces for their web-building, and are found in the western U.S. and Canada.