Bug FAQSouthern Bolas Spider
Mastophora cornigera · Order: Araneae · Family: Araneidae
Also called: orb weavers
Adult female Southern Bolas Spiders catch prey with one or more sticky drops on a single silk line, while males and young females grab prey directly with their legs. They are found from the United States down through Nicaragua.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adult females use a single line of silk ending in sticky drops to snag insects.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They occur in habitats ranging from the United States to Nicaragua.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Males and juvenile females catch prey directly with their legs. Adult females capture prey using the sticky drops on their silk line.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Their native range extends from the United States through Nicaragua.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 9 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alaska.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How does the adult female Southern Bolas Spider catch its prey?
It swings a single silk line that ends in one or more sticky drops to snag insects.
Source: Wikipedia
What do male and young Southern Bolas Spiders do to catch food?
They seize prey directly with their legs.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is the Southern Bolas Spider found?
It lives in areas from the United States down to Nicaragua.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Araneidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastophora_cornigera
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.