Orchard Orbweaver - Blog Posts

Orchard Orbweaver (Leucauge venusta), juvenile, taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

Behold, a spider belly! In even the smallest orchard orbweaver, the orange smiley on their abdomen is visible. This is diagnostic for the species, along with 3 stripes that run down their cephalothorax, one down the center and 2 on the margins, but that isn't visible here. Those markings allow you to differentiate the species from Joro Spiders, which look extremely similar as juveniles. A smiliar species, the Mabel Orchard Orbweaver (Leucauge argyrobapta), is often confused with this one but can be distinguished (if not by range) by its blue hues and larger, more yellow smiley. This is only the case for some individuals, though, as females of the species are nearly identical and males can only be distinguished by the shape of their palps. Both are beautiful regardless!

Orchard Orbweaver (Leucauge venusta), female, taken April 28, 2024, in Georgia, US

A lovely young lady! I believe she's still subadult because she isn't very dark yet, but she's still beautiful! Orchard Orbweavers can be identified by the orange smiley face on the ventral (under) side of their abdomen, which you can see a bit of in this image. They're one of the most common orbweavers in my area—absolutely all over grasses and shrubs during the spring!