Bug Wiki
Sticker of Angular orbweaver spider
Bug card No. 0103 of 4,939

Angular orbweaver spider

Araneus angulatus
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsSpidersForests and woods8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The angular orbweaver spider looks a lot like the common garden spider, but it has two pointy bumps on its body. It builds a big round web between bushes and trees. It has a very special place in science history, too.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!
Lives in
Europe and Asia, in bushes and trees
Top speed
about 1.2 km/h (0.75 mph)
On foot, estimate
What does it eat?
It catches flying insects in its big round web and feels them land by the shaking of the threads.
For real!Photo of Angular orbweaver spider
Picture by Thomas Kraft ( ThKraft ). CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It was the very first animal described in a 1757 book about Swedish spiders, so its scientific name is the oldest animal name still in use.

2

Its web has no hiding place, so the spider sits right in the middle and waits.

3

One was seen at a country fair, not bothered at all by crowds, music and fireworks.

4

In Britain it is rare and lives only near the south coast of England.

you asked

Most asked questions about Angular orbweaver spider

?How can you tell it from a garden spider?

It has pointy bumps on its body, and it sits in the middle of its web instead of hiding.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Araneus angulatus
Named by
Clerck, 1757
Group
Spiders
Family
Araneidae
Classification
Arachnida > Araneae > Araneidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Araneus angulatus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Thomas Kraft ( ThKraft ). CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: Spiders

Also at home here: Forests and woods

Honey jarfor grown-ups