There are spiders in every habitat, they even penetrate into human dwellings. Even if they often cause disgust, they are fascinating creatures. Some spider species are presented here.
Table of Contents
Spider species from B to G
Baldachinspinne (Linyphia triangularis)
- Body size: up to 7 mm
- Appearance: Front body yellowish-brown with a black border, rear body striped white and brown or with a jagged line
- Web and food: large canopy web in low vegetation, flying insects
- Reproduction: egg sacs are laid in a hidden place
- Occurrence: in forests, but also in open landscapes, common everywhere
Brückenkreuzspinne (Larinioides muscotarius)
- Body size: males up to 8 mm, females up to 13 mm
- Appearance: greyish basic coloration, whitish or darker markings with a white edge
- Web and Food: Orb webs, often over water and near streetlights, night light attracts insects to the web
- Occurrence: near water on buildings and rocks of all kinds
Note: In suitable locations, bridge spiders form larger colonies that support each other in building their webs.
Triangle spider (Hyptiotes paradoxus)
- Body size: males up to 4 mm, females slightly larger
- Appearance: Brownish, females triangular in side view, males with lower rear body
- Net and Food: Build triangular net in lower tree area, catch flying insects
- Reproduction: egg cocoon is laid on a spruce branch, young animals only hatch after hibernation
- Occurrence: one of the most common spider species in spruce forests
Gartenkreuzspinne (Araneus diadematus)
- Body size: males up to 10 mm, females up to 17 mm
- Appearance: easy to determine, basic coloring variable, eponymous cross drawing on the back
- Web and food: typical orb web, catches flying insects
- Reproduction: lays eggs in a hidden place, young spiders hatch after hibernation
- Occurrence: in gardens, parks and at the edges of forests, common everywhere
Greenhouse spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum)
- Body size: males up to 4mm, females almost twice as large
- Appearance: light to dark brown with darker spots
- Net and food: net near the ground, insects
- Reproduction: can produce up to 5 cocoons per year, guards cocoons until hatchlings hatch
- Occurrence: almost exclusively in greenhouses and other buildings, only in warm areas also outdoors
Common oval spider (Enoplognatha ovata)
- Body size: males up to 5 mm, females up to 7 mm
- Appearance: conspicuous spherical, whitish or yellowish hind body with black dots, in some specimens also with two red stripes, legs very long and thin
- Web and Food: Canopy web on tall plants, hiding places in a spun leaf, eats flying insects including wasps and bees
- Reproduction: lays eggs in brood nest, guards brood and young
- Occurrence: common everywhere
Large angle spider (Tegenaria atrica)
- Body size: males up to 15 mm, females up to 15 mm
- Appearance: Basic color dark with lighter markings on the back
- Web and food: funnel web in room corners or behind furniture, insects
- Occurrence: in Germany mostly in buildings
From H to K
House spider (Tegenaria domestica)
- Body size: females up to 11.5 mm, males up to 9
- Appearance: Body light ocher to grey-brown, breast shield constricted once in the middle with four lateral spots, rounded abdomen, softly hairy, leg indistinctly ringed or spotted
- Net: funnel-shaped cavity made up of several layers
- Occurrence: in houses, in spring/summer/early autumn also in sheltered places outdoors
Herbstspinne (Metellina segmentata)
- Body size: males up to 7.5 mm, females slightly larger
- Appearance: Legs striped, body with a light basic color and black markings, also reddish specimens
- Web and food: typical orb web, flying insects
- Reproduction: Egg cocoon is deposited on branches or tree bark
- Occurrence: one of the most common orb-weaver spiders, found in forests but also in open landscapes
Körbchenspinne (Agalenatea remedi)
- Body size: males up to 5 mm, females up to 8 mm
- Appearance: Very variable coloring, often light or dark brown with lighter markings
- Web and food: Orb web with basket-shaped perch, insects
- Reproduction: small egg cocoon, young spiders overwinter
- Occurrence: in sunny and dry locations, one of the most common spider species
Pumpkin spider (Araniella cucurbitina)
- Body size: up to 8 mm, males are also half smaller
- Appearance: Front body and legs brown, abdomen conspicuously green and round with small black spots, underside with a red spot over the spinning glands
- Web and Food: Orb-web (10 cm), often on top of a large leaf, otherwise in the herbaceous layer, catches insects
- Reproduction: lays several egg sacs, juveniles tend to be reddish in colour
- Occurrence: Forest edges, but also in open areas, widespread everywhere
From L to S
Listspinne (Pisaura mirabilis)
- Body size: males up to 12 mm, females only slightly larger
- Appearance: Basic color light or reddish brown, elongated build, light central stripe on the front body
- Web and food: web in the herb layer, insects and other spiders
- Reproduction: builds larger egg cocoons, which it carries around, later brood nest, in which the young spiders hatch, are guarded by the mother animal
- Occurrence: particularly common on forest paths, clearings or forest edges
Red tube spider (Eresus kollari)
- Body size: males up to 11 mm, females up to 16 mm
- Appearance: conspicuous sex differences, females predominantly blue-black, males with a conspicuous red abdomen, four black spots on it, white rings on the legs
- Net and Food: builds low nets that end in the burrow, mainly catching bugs
- Reproduction: takes care of the brood, young are fed, later the mother animal dies and is eaten by the young
- Occurrence: in warmer regions, rare
Schilfradspinne (Larinioides cornutus)
- Body size: males up to 8 mm, females up to 13 mm
- Appearance: Basic color light with brown markings, legs darker
- Web and nutrition: Orb web in the lower part of the vegetation, spun nook, camouflaged with parts of plants, insects
- Reproduction: several egg sacs per year, always hidden in the hiding place
- Occurrence: near bodies of water of all kinds, common everywhere
Sektorspinne (Zygiella x-notata)
- Body size: males up to 7 mm, females up to 11 mm
- Appearance: Front body and legs dark, abdomen light with greyish markings
- Web and food: usually does not build a complete orb web, trapping threads are left out in two sectors, flying insects
- Reproduction: up to 5 egg cocoons in suitable hiding places, young spiders initially build a normal orb web
- Occurrence: common in residential areas
Nuctenea umbratica
- Body size: males up to 10 mm, females up to 16 mm
- Appearance: strikingly flat body, dark basic coloration with light-lined markings, several paired, punctiform indentations
- Web and food: sometimes very large orb web with shifted hub, flying insects
- Occurrence: Common everywhere, rarely in buildings
Note: This species of spider gets its name from its ability to slip into even the smallest of crevices. With the help of special muscles in the abdomen, the spider can flatten itself even further.
From V to Z
Variable crab spider (Misumena vatia)
- Body size: males up to 5mm, females twice as large
- Appearance: males have dark front body, also front pairs of legs, rear pairs of legs and abdomen lighter with darker longitudinal markings, females variably colored, such as white, yellow or green
- Web and food: purely hunting spider, also larger insects such as butterflies and bees
- Reproduction: egg cocoon is safely hidden, young spiders hibernate
- Occurrence: in gardens, open landscapes, sunny places, widespread
Wasserspinne (Argyroneta aquatica)
- Body size: males up to 15 mm, females only up to 9 mm
- Appearance: dark brown, covered with a silvery layer of air in the water
- Net and food: builds a kind of diving bell out of spider threads, which it fills with air, small aquatic creatures
- Reproduction: takes place in the diving bell
- Occurrence: in clean standing water, has become rare due to habitat destruction
Wasp spider (Argiope bruennichi)
- Body size: males up to 6 mm, females up to 17 mm
- Appearance: easy to identify, females with white, yellow and black striped abdomen, males almost uniformly brown
- Net and food: builds an orb web with a typical zigzag line in the middle, often catches locusts
- Reproduction: Males are often eaten after mating, female builds larger egg cocoons in which the young spiders overwinter
- Occurrence: from the Mediterranean area, immigrated to Germany, now common everywhere, mostly on meadows near the ground
Zebraspringspinne (Salticus scenicus)
- Body size: up to 7 mm
- Appearance: Easily identifiable, black and white striped, prominent eyes
- Web and food: pure hunting spider, insects
- Reproduction: the egg cocoon is guarded and opened shortly before the young hatch
- Occurrence: often on sunny walls , also in buildings, widespread in Germany
Zitterspinne (Pholcus phalangioides)
- Body size: up to 1 cm, with legs of significantly larger diameter
- Appearance: Easily identifiable, light, mostly brownish or greyish, legs with darker joints
- Net and food: Nets mostly in corners or under the ceiling, insects and other spiders, such as bay spiders
- Reproduction: lays an egg cocoon near the web, young spiders remain in the mother’s web for a while
- Occurrence: in Germany one of the most common types of spiders in buildings
Note: This species of spider owes its name to its behavior when it is ‘disturbed’. Because then she begins to ‘tremble’ with rapid movements, so that her outlines become blurred.
frequently asked Questions
Although they belong to the arachnids, they do not belong to the web spiders, like all the species mentioned above. Harvestmen have no poison and no spinning glands. They are widespread in Germany and easy to identify.
In principle, the bite of a spider is not dangerous, the poison cannot harm a person. Nevertheless, the wound can hurt, especially with larger spider species.
