Bug Wiki
Sticker of Carmine orbweaver
Bug card No. 0797 of 4,939

Carmine orbweaver

Cercidia prominens
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsSpidersGardens and meadows8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The carmine orbweaver is a tiny spider in a bright orange-red coat. Its legs are orange too, and it has a few dark spots on its back. It is only a few millimetres long.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!
Lives in
North America, Europe and Asia from the Caucasus to Kazakhstan
Length
3.6 to 5.4 mm (0.14 to 0.21 in)
Top speed
about 0.88 km/h (0.55 mph)
On foot, estimate
What does it eat?
Like other orbweavers, it catches small insects in its web.
For real!Photo of Carmine orbweaver
Picture by Sanja565658. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Carmine orbweaver about 5.4 mm long (0.21 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailcould run across a dinner table in 4.1 secondsmoves 45 times its own body length every second

How big is Carmine orbweaver compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The scientist who first described it called the colour of its body brick red.

2

Females are a little bigger than males.

3

The female has four dark spots near the front of her back.

4

Its group first got a name that was already used for a kind of crustacean, so scientists had to make up a new one.

you asked

Most asked questions about Carmine orbweaver

?How big is the carmine orbweaver?

Very small, about 4 to 5 millimetres long.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Cercidia prominens
Named by
Westring, 1851
Group
Spiders
Family
Araneidae
Classification
Arachnida > Araneae > Araneidae
Lives on
North America, Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Cercidia prominens (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 Sanja565658. CC BY-SA 3.0, 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: Gardens and meadows

Honey jarfor grown-ups