Cucumber green spider, Araña pepino

Description:

Females grow up to 6 millimetres, males only up to 4 mm. The spider is mainly found on forest clearings, where it weaves its orb-web between leaves and flowers. These webs are only about 100 mm in diameter. This spider does not use a hideout, because it is camouflaged by its green colour. Adult spiders first show this colour in spring. Freshly hatched spiderlings are red, and change to brown before the autumn. On the end of the abdomen there is a red mark in adults. Araniella opisthographa is an almost identical spider which can only be distinguished from A. cucurbitina by a microscopic investigation.

Habitat:

Garden at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Campus