Females commonly about 10–18 mm; males are smaller.
Fine-art photographic collection
Araneus diadematus
An architect that dismantles, eats and rebuilds its own trap.
About this species
Cross Orbweaver
Araneus diadematus(Clerck, 1758)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
The cross orb-weaver constructs a precisely tensioned web despite having poor eyesight. It responds to space, weather and damage by changing the geometry of the web rather than following a single rigid blueprint.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Arachnida · Araneae · Araneidae · Araneus
Accepted species or infraspecific taxon in the current GBIF/Catalogue of Life treatment; unsupported details have been omitted rather than inferred. · checked 2026-07-15
Holarctic regionBroad documented range and selected occurrence localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Across temperate and boreal parts of the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe, Asia and North America.
Gardens, hedges, woodland edges and other vegetation that supports an orb web.
Adults are especially conspicuous in late summer and autumn in temperate regions.
Predatory on insects caught in the web.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
The spider commonly dismantles its old capture web and consumes the silk, recycling valuable proteins into the replacement web.
When part of the orb is damaged, it repairs the area with the smallest practical investment of new silk rather than rebuilding blindly.
It alters web geometry to fit narrow or awkward spaces while preserving the functional arrangement of radial and sticky threads.