Pests don't wait. Protect your home today.
Spiny Orb-Weaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis)
Identify it, prevent it, and know when to call. A South Florida guide from Pro-Spray.
$50 OFF your first service + FREE inspectionNew customers · No code needed · No expiration
What Is a Spiny Orb-Weaver?
The spiny-backed orb-weaver is the colorful, crab-shaped spider many South Floridians call a "crab spider." Its hard, spiky abdomen makes it look almost like a tiny shell or a piece of jewelry. These spiders build round webs in landscaping, often across walkways where people walk right into them.
How to Identify Them
Look for a hard, flattened, wide abdomen with six spines around the edge. Color varies, but white with black spots and red spines is common in Florida. The web is a classic wheel shape, with small tufts of silk along some of the threads that may help birds see it.
Common look-alikes:
- True crab spiders: hunt on flowers without webs.
- Other orb weavers: larger and without spines.
Life Cycle and Habits
Females build webs and lay eggs in silk masses on leaves near the web. Adults are most common in fall and winter. They eat small flying insects like gnats, flies and mosquitoes caught in their webs.
Signs
- Round webs strung between shrubs and across paths
- Small, colorful spiky spiders in the center of webs
- Webs on pool cages, lanai screens and fences
Is it dangerous?
- Harmless
Harmless to people; webs are a nuisance.
Why They're Common Here
Dense, year-round landscaping and plenty of small flying insects make South Florida yards ideal.
Are They Dangerous?
No. They're not considered harmful to people, and bites are very rare. They actually help reduce small flying insects.
Prevention Tips
- Knock down webs along walkways with a broom.
- Trim shrubs back from paths and doors.
- Reduce outdoor lighting that draws in insects.
How Pro-Spray Handles Spiny Orb-Weavers
We remove webs along the home and treat around the perimeter, eaves and lanais as part of regular service. We focus on reducing webs where you walk.
Why You See More of Them in Fall and Winter
Spiny orb-weavers are present for much of the year, but adults are most noticeable in South Florida from fall through winter. That's when the females are fully grown, colorful and easy to spot in the center of their webs. Homeowners often notice them suddenly along hedges, between palm fronds and stretched across the gap between a shrub and the house. They aren't moving in because of anything wrong with your home; they're simply following the season and the supply of small flying insects.
Living With Them vs. Reducing Them
Because they're harmless and eat gnats, flies and small mosquitoes, many people are happy to leave spiny orb-weavers in parts of the yard they don't use. The problem is mainly webs in the wrong place: across front walkways, around doors, on pool cages and in the path to the trash cans. Trimming shrubs so they don't create "bridges" across paths, keeping lights off near doors when not needed, and brushing down webs where you walk handle most situations. If webs are covering your eaves, screens and entryways, regular exterior service helps keep them under control.
Identifying the Color Forms
In Florida, the white form with black spots and red spines is most familiar, but you may also see yellowish or orange individuals, sometimes with black spines. All are the same species and equally harmless.
New customer offer
$50 OFF your first service
+ FREE inspection
Then stay protected with our $125 quarterly pest control plan, about $42/month.
New customers only. No code needed and no expiration. Mention this offer when you call or text.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the spiky spiders in my yard?
Are crab spiders poisonous?
Why do they build webs across my walkway?
Do they come inside?
Reviewed October 2026 by Pro-Spray's family-run team
Pests don't wait.
Protect your home today.
Get $50 OFF your first pest service and a FREE inspection & estimate. Ongoing protection is $125 quarterly (about $42/month), with no contracts and no cancellation fees.
Prefer to text or email? Text us · info@prospraypest.com