Bug FAQHawaiian Happy Face Spider
Theridion grallator · Order: Araneae · Family: Theridiidae
The Hawaiian happy-face spider is a tiny spider under 5 mm with long slender legs and a translucent yellow body that can show red, white or black markings, sometimes forming a smiley-face pattern. It lives on the Hawaiian Islands, building small flat webs on the undersides of leaves or in tree crevices, and its abdomen colour can shift to green or orange depending on what it eats. The colour patterns are inherited by simple Mendelian genetics and the ratio of patterned to unpatterned spiders stays constant all year.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
It has long slender legs, a translucent yellow body, and an abdomen that may display red, white or black markings, sometimes forming a smiley-face design.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its body length is less than 5 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It builds small, flat webs on the undersides of leaves or in tree crevices.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Its abdomen can turn green or orange after eating different foods, showing diet-induced colour change.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The colour patterns follow simple Mendelian inheritance.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
The proportion of patterned to unpatterned individuals remains relatively constant throughout the year.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native to the Hawaiian Islands.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Hawaii.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: endemic in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the Hawaiian happy-face spider look like?
It has long slender legs, a translucent yellow body, and an abdomen that may show red, white or black markings, sometimes forming a smiley-face pattern.
Source: Wikipedia
Where does it live?
It lives on the Hawaiian Islands, building small flat webs on the undersides of leaves or in tree crevices.
Source: Wikipedia
Does its colour change with what it eats?
Yes, its abdomen can turn green or orange depending on its diet.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Theridiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theridion_grallator
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-29 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-29.