Bug FAQLabyrinth Orbweaver
Metepeira labyrinthea · Order: Araneae · Family: Araneidae
The labyrinth orbweaver is a small spider, females about 5 mm long with a brown-gray carapace and a dark abdomen marked with white patterns; males are slightly smaller and darker. It builds orb webs 3 to 8 ft above the ground in open woodlands across most of the United States down through the Neotropics to Argentina. The spider is active from March through October, catching prey on its sticky orb web and producing several egg sacs in the rainy season.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Females measure about 5.3 mm in body length, with a 2.3 mm carapace, 3.3 mm abdomen, and legs extended to 18.4 mm. Males are roughly three-quarters the length of females, slightly larger overall, with a darker carapace and higher contrast on the legs.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Common in open woodland or at woodland edges, webs are typically placed 3 to 8 feet above ground.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Webs are visible from March to October, and during the rainy season females mate and lay 5 to 6 egg sacs with about 55 eggs each.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Active and web-building occur from March through October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Found throughout most of the United States and extending southward through the Neotropics to Argentina.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Metepeira spiders can be told apart from other orb weavers by a light eye region, a white median line on the sternum, leg segment proportions, a small male palpus, a weakly sclerotized epigyne, and their distinctive composite web.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 33 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Alabama.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Araneidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metepeira_labyrinthea
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.