SPIDER: Any of numerous arachnids of the order Araneae, having a body divided into a cephalothorax bearing eight legs, two poison fangs, and two feelers and an unsegmented abdomen bearing several spinnerets that produce the silk used to make nests, cocoons, or webs for trapping insects.

PURPOSE:
This image gallery has been created to assist visitors with answering that age old question, "What's that spider?"  Currently, the spider identification is specific to those spiders in Douglas County, Elkton, Oregon - basically, everything that shows up in and around my yard.  These spiders are, however, found in many other parts of the U.S., therefore the images should help in the identification of spiders outside this area, as well.

Please note: Identification of many spiders, and for that matter insects in general, are often not easily made to the species level - to identify to the species level would require photo details not easily captured in most images - that, or you'd have to dissect the specimen.  Whenever a specific species identification could be made, I include it.  Sometimes, however, the ID will only go to genus, sub-family or family.  Also note, many spiders do not have specific common names, like Golden Orb Weaver.  In cases like that, I use the generic name associated with the family/sub-family/genus ID, like Jumping Spider or Lynx Spider.

PHOTOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS, DATES AND CAMERA SETTINGS:
- Unless otherwise noted, all spider images were taken in Northern Douglas County, in and around Elkton, Oregon.

- The date each photograph was taken appears under each thumbnail image.

- Camera settings for each image are presented on the enlargement page for that image.  To view an enlargement, click the thumbnail image you wish to see enlarged.

There are many species of Mesumenops and many can be mistaken for their cousin Misumena, which includes the Goldenrod Crab Spider - Misumena vatia.  The easiest way to tell them apart is that Misumenops is hairy; Misumena is not hairy.

This was one of those spider groupings where identification to species level was difficult.  I can, however, vouch that the following grouping of crab spiders are indeed Misumenops, and they are female.  The easiest ways to identify a male from a female are that males have petipalps that look like they have boxing gloves on the ends, which, aside from manipulating food, are used to deliver sperm in mating; the female petipalps are slender and are only used to assist in eating.  Female spiders also tend to be larger than males and generally have fatter abdomens, providing food/energy reserves and room enough to hold all the eggs.

Notice this male has petipalps that look like they have boxing gloves on the ends.  You can also see a distinctly smaller abdomen.  On occasion, there are also coloration and/or body patterning differences

This spider is also known as a Flower Spider.  The ones I've seen in the yard have all been either white or slightly buff in color, with red patterning on the sides.  Most, though not all, have also had the orange face shield; in some cases it was a snowy white.  Goldenrod Spiders can adapt their coloring to match the flower they are hiding in.  And note, there are no abdominal hairs, like on their cousin, Misumenops.

Notice this male has petipalps that look like they have boxing gloves on the ends.  You can also see a distinctly smaller abdomen.  On occasion, case in point, there are also coloration and/or body patterning differences

These are common lawn spiders, often seen in the grass on dewy mornings.  The females hardly ever stray from their webs, but the males often wander about in search of a mate.  Males are also attracted to the activity around porch lights at night.  Extremely fast, I slowed down the male in the first three images by catching him in a jar, off the back door screen (under the porch light), then refrigerating him for several hours.  It took him about a minute to warm up, and then he took off, 0 to 60 in under a second.  The second spider (fourth image) was taken on a ground web, and the third spider (fifth image) had a huge web sprawled out above a shelf in the shed.

Many people mistakenly call this arachnid a Daddy-Long-Legs Spider.  The error is three-fold.  First, it is not a spider.  All spiders have segmented bodies (cephalothorax (fused head and thorax) holding two poisonous fangs, two feelers and eight legs; the abdomen is separate.  Harvestman have an unsegmented body - this excludes Harvestman as a spider.  The spider is an arachnid of the order Areneae.  Harvestman is an arachnid of the order Phalangida.  Secondly, the true Daddy-Long-Legs Spider is a Cobweb Spider, with a segmented body, and often found in your basement or garage.  While we probably have dozens of Daddy-Long-Legs Spiders in our garage, I've never found a Harvestman in the garage, or, for that matter, anywhere else in the house.  And thirdly, the eyes of a spider are presented across and around the forehead whereas the eyes of a Harvestman are on a turret-like projection on the forehead.

Other differences between spiders and Harvestman can be seen in the males.  The chelicera on the Harvestman are large and thrust forward with no fangs in them; I read somewhere they have something like teeth/grinders, instead.  Also, the petipalps on a male Harvestman actually look like a fifth pair of folded legs grown to either side of the chelicera.

While there were some species of Jumping Spiders I could get identified to species level, there were a number of them I couldn't.  This specimen I could get identified only to the sub-family level.  I was also only able to find this one individual, a female, with no images of a male for comparison.

Personally, I think Jumping spiders are among the cutest of insects out there - some even being somewhat Teddy-Bearish.  They also have very interesting eyes and coloration.

Not a large spider, I've heard the body of Jumpers can grow to about 1/2 inch.  The largest I've seen in the yard, however, were only a bit over 1/4 inch; I've also taken images of Jumping Spiders that were about 1/16 inch.

This is another species of Jumping Spider I could get identified only to the sub-family level.  An interesting point about these two specimens, below, is the color variations - the July specimen being a dark brown while the August specimen was a medium bright brown.

I found the coloration of this Jumping Spider rather interesting.  Both images are of the same spider.  In the shade, the spider appears a whitish grey with black markings.  As it emerged into the sunlight, the white/grey turned a light buff and the black, including the eyes, turned a rust color.

Aside from the uniqueness of this spider's coloration and that not many spiders seem to like dining on ants, its use of its forelegs and the presentation of its head were intiguing.  As it walked about, it always seemed to do so with its forelegs waving about like antenna; at first I thought it was some other non-spider insect.  It only lowered those legs after it stopped, though as soon as "I" moved, it would raise them again.  I also found interesting how the spider's brow protrudes above the four front eyes, so you can only easily see those eyes from the front when the legs are raised - two additional small, back eyes can be seen approximately one third of the way back to either side of the cephalothorax.

Phidippus clarus has become my favorite spider, and I've been lucky enough to get photos of most instars - an instar is the stage between molts.  As can be seen from the following six images, I've captured most of the juvenile instars.  The first instar (which I have no images of), the spider has legs and petipalps but no eyes.  The second instar has eyes, and the first image below is of that second instar.  From left to right (row one, then row two), you can see how subsequent instars change the spider's appearance - each subsequent instar the spider gets larger, hairier and more colorful.  Adult females are hairier and more colorful than males.

In my view, the Phidippus clarus female is the cutest of all spiders.  To me, they actually look a bit cuddly.

When I first spotted this tiny juvenial sitting on one of my bee houses, I thought it was a speck of dirt.  This little Jumper was no larger than 1/16th of an inch long  Unfortunately, it is too juvenile to identify to the genus level.

I remember reading somewhere that the US has only 20 species of Lynx Spiders.  You might therefore think, it shouldn't be too difficult to ID a Lynx Spider from such a small haystack.  Unfortunately, that's not the case.  I've only been able to identify this one individual, above prior images, to species, the Western Lynx Spider, Oxyopes scalaris.  I include the other two species I have images of, below, simply as "Miscellaneous Lynx Spiders, family Oxyopidae" so you will at least be able to identify these hunting spiders as a Lynx when you see them in your yard, or elsewhere.

The most obvious characteristics I've found to identify Lynx Spiders are the small size (3/8 - 5/8 inch), the spiny legs, the high pointy forehead and, for me, that at first I usually mistake them for Jumping Spiders.  As I find out more specific identification about each spider, below, I will separate them out.

I found it interesting how Wood Spiders seem to color adapt.  All Wood Spiders I've encountered, except for the male on the right, were the lighter brown - that was the first one I photographed at night against a black background.