Bug card No. 1236 of 4,939

Cricket-bat orbweaver

Mangora acalypha

Eats: Other bugs and small animals SpidersGardens and meadows8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The cricket-bat orbweaver is a small spider that builds a round web. It lives across Europe and Asia. You can find it in meadows, woods and gardens.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!

Lives in

Europe and Asia, in meadows, forests and gardens

Top speed

about 1.2 km/h (0.75 mph)

On foot, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

What does it eat?

It catches small flying insects in its round web.

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

Cricket-bat orbweaver about 1.2 km/h (0.75 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

It was first described in 1802 by the French scientist Walckenaer.

It is common in meadows, forests and gardens.

It belongs to the orb weavers, the spider family that builds round, wheel shaped webs.

you asked

?Where can you find the cricket-bat orbweaver?

In meadows, forests and gardens across Europe and Asia.

Mangora acalypha (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

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