About

Spider and Arachnid Life List

Updated July 14, 2025

My collection of photographs of spiders and other arachnids from my travels.

I was born with an innate fear of spiders, but slowly, I've learned to appreciate their fascinating beauty and diversity. Many species of arachnids require the help of experts to identify in the field. Unlike my other animal pages, I do not attempt to identify most spiders, and certainly appreciate identification help from anybody.

Hawaiian Garden Spider

I used this photo of the large and beautiful Hawaiian Spider when writing about coral reef issues on the North Shore of Kauai. Argiope appensa,Photographed on Kauai, Hawaii

Hawaiian Garden Spider (Argiope appensa,)

Zebra Jumper

Photographed in Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon.

Zebra Jumper (Unidentified species)

Marbled Wall Lizard

Photographed in the Buskett Woodlands, Malta.

Marbled Wall Lizard (Unidentified species)

River Bank Wolf Spider

Photographed on the Dark Divide Trail, Washington.

This species walks across the surface of the water like a water bug.

Orchard Orbweaver

Leucauge venusta, Photographed in Playa Ancon, Cuba.

Beach Wolf Spider

Arctosa littoralis, From Sunset Beach, Gearheart, Oregon.

Beach Wolf Spider

Arctosa littoralis, Photographed at Rockaway Beach, Oregon

Half-edged Wall Jumping Spider

Menemerus semilimbatus, Photographed in Naoussa, Paros, Greece. Like other jumping spiders, this species, which is distributed around much of the Old World, is characterized by its excellent vision, which it uses for hunting prey. These spiders are agile hunters that actively stalk and pounce on their prey, using silk draglines for safety and as a means of communication.

Kankuamo marquezi

Kankuamo marquezi, Photographed at El Dorado Reserve, Santa Marta Mountains, Magdalena, Colombia. This species, the only in its genus, was named after Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This species is known for having urticating hairs: sword-shaped hairs that sting predators, unlike other tarantulas, which can throw their hair.

Marbled Cellar Spider

Holocnemus pluchei, Photographed in the Buskett Gardens, Malta

Golden Silk Spider

Trichonephila clavipes, Photographed in Minca, Magdalena, Colombia. This species of orb-weaving spider is known throughout the Southeast United States, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. It was the spider I saw the most during my visit to northern Colombia.

Unidentified Spider

Photographed in Tambopata, Peru.

Golden Silk Orb-Weaver

Trichonephila clavipes. You see the little spider in the upper left of this photo? That's the male. Photographed on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.

Orbweaver from Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Spiny-backed Orbweaver

Gasteracantha cancriformis. I photographed this Spiny-backed Orbweaver and wrote about it in my Bahamian Dry Forest journal. Photographed on Elbow Cay, Abaco, Bahamas.

Spined Micrathena

Micrathena sexspinosa, photographed in Tayrona National Park, Magdalena, Colombia. These spiders are skilled builders of orb-shaped webs, typically situated in vegetation, where they wait for prey to become ensnared.

Evarcha proszynskii Jumping Spider

Photographed at Floras Lake, Oregon.

Picadus Orchid Mimic Spider

Possibly picadus granulatus, photographed in El Valle de Anton, Panama. I write about trying to identify this species.

Cyclosa Reeves Decoy Spider

This spider, which you can see at the top of this collection of dead insects, is a tiny arachnid that designs fake spiders. This defensive strategy confused predators into attacking the fake spider. Cyclosa Reeves, I photographed this hard-to-find species while traveling to the Tambopata River region, Peru.

Heterophrynus elaphus Whip Scorpion

Heterophrynus elaphus, Photographed in Tambopata, Peru. These arachnids are not true spiders or scorpions, but belong to the arachnid class. They are characterized by their flattened bodies, large raptorial pedipalps, and long, whip-like appendages. These arachnids are generally harmless to humans and are not venomous. This species is huge, and it is common for visiting or new naturalists and scientists to be welcomed to the Tambopata area by putting the non-dangerous arachnid on one's face.