Bug Wiki
Sticker of Furrow spider
Bug card No. 0548 of 1,500

Furrow spider

Larinioides cornutus
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsSpidersPonds, rivers and shores8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The furrow spider is an orb-web spider with a big round tummy. It can be black, grey or reddish, and has a pale arrow pattern on its back. It builds its web in tall grass and bushes near water.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!
Lives in
Europe, northern Asia and North America, in damp places near water
Length
0.6 to 1.4 cm (0.24 to 0.55 in)
females; males are 5 to 9 mm
Top speed
about 1.4 km/h (0.87 mph)
On foot, estimate
What does it eat?
It catches insects that fly into its round web.
For real!Photo of Furrow spider
Picture by Michael H. Lemmer. CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Furrow spider about 1.4 cm long (0.55 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
as long as 2.5 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 2.6 secondsmoves 28 times its own body length every second

How big is Furrow spider compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It has eight eyes: six in a row and two more on top in the middle.

2

In the day it hides in a little silk tent covered with bits of plants, and comes out at night.

3

It builds a fresh web every evening.

4

It does not hibernate. In winter it can survive cold down to minus 20 degrees.

5

In summer the female makes three to five yellow egg sacs.

you asked

Most asked questions about Furrow spider

?Where do furrow spiders live?

In damp places near water, with webs in grass and low bushes.

?How big is a furrow spider?

Females are about 6 to 14 millimetres long, males a bit smaller.

Myth buster

Myth: Spiders cannot hear because they have no ears.

Truth: Spiders like this one can sense sounds with special hairs on their legs.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Larinioides cornutus
Group
Spiders
Family
Araneidae
Classification
Arachnida > Araneae > Araneidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, North America
Also known as
Furrow orb spider, Foliate spider

Where the facts come from

  1. Larinioides cornutus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Michael H. Lemmer. CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

More from the same group: Spiders

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores