Eriophora Orb Weaver

Description:

During the day, E. ravilla may be found on the underside of leaves which are partially rolled and tied with silk, or occasionally in sparse silken retreats in sheltered corners of man-made structures. At night, the spiders may be seen hanging head down at the center of their webs. They may be captured in large vials and preserved in 70-80% alcohol (ethanol or isopropanol). An easy way to capture one alive is to put a plastic bag around the leaf containing the spider in its diurnal retreat, and then cut the leaf from the branch.

Habitat:

Eriophora ravilla belongs to a genus of primarily tropical species. Its range is largely circum-Caribbean, occurring in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas along the Gulf Coast of the United States; Mexico; throughout Central America; throughout the Greater and Lesser Antilles; the Bahamas; and in Colombia and Venezuela in northern South America. The extremes of its range are two disjunct records, one from Maryland in the U.S.A. and one from southeastern Brazil