Happy #Arachtober! I am going to start off strong with my first blog post on my favorite local spider: the marbled orbweaver.

This local spider has brightly-colored striped legs and a marbled pattern on its backside. The pattern is a creamy yellow and black, but some individuals get a bright orange butt. The orange coloration make them perfect for Arachtober as their other name is #pumpkin spider.

Like many other orbweavers in the #Araneus genus, this species makes beautiful, vertical webs with concentric rings. Usually, I find them along forest edges this time of year and look for the ‘trip line’ from the web going up to a rolled up leaf. During the day, these beauties often will hide in leaves, so keep an eye out!

This species is also special to me because it was one of the first spiders to get my hubby on board with spiders. One moved in outside our kitchen window one fall, much to Dan’s horror and my joy. He really wanted me to knock down the web and discourage it, but she caught a stinkbug. When he saw the stinkbug, he decided the spider could stay as long as she “paid rent.” She continued to catch a few more stinkbugs, but as the cold settled in, she died, and Dan was actually sad that she no longer was with us. It was a true turning point.

So, let’s have three cheers for the stinkbug-munching, pumpkin-butted spider that can be seen this time of year! Stay tuned for more spider-y updates along the way.

#araneusmarmoreus #marbledorbweaver #spider #spidereducation #arachnid #arachnidsofinstagram