Spiders are amazingly intelligent ambush hunters wherever in the world that these tiny wonderful creatures are found spinning their web. An invisible sticky silk thread that spiders naturally produce in the Spinneret Glands that are located in the abdomen. Spider’s webs are incredibly strong and they would have to be to catch potentially large flying insects that are unlucky enough to fly headlong into the spider’s lair.

Not all spiders spin silky steel-like thread webs to catch its dinner. Some spiders prefer catch-and-grab hunting technique. Find an unoccupied hole or dig your own, and then back into the hole and get comfortable, until an insect or small rodent wonders into striking range. Launch forward at lightening speed and quickly insert venom filled fangs to paralyze or kill prey, and then patiently wait until the guts have liquefied making for a most excellent midnight milkshake without the milk.

Jumping Spider

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The Jumping Spider is most commonly found patrolling open woodland areas, but not mature hardwood forests possibly because competition for food is fiercer, but who really knows. These spiders have very powerful legs that allow them to jump about thirty times their body length, which this extraordinary ability is used to catch unsuspecting arthropods. When arthropods are not available this spider also will slurp up sweet nectar. Jumping Spiders use their silk threads to spin webs to lay eggs and occasionally catch them from crashing into the ground, when a jump goes bad.

Spiny Orb-Weaver Spider

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The Spiny Orb-Weaver Spider is found throughout the world with some varieties residing in California and the southeast coastline of the US. This spider features a unique spiny back that has some distinguishing characteristics of a crab-like creature. It builds a web that is usually 10 to 12 inches across and up to a 30 inch radius making its trap perfect for most kinds of flying insects. Spiny Orb-Weavers can be found in white, orange or yellow with red markings and six wicked cool spines that poke out the edges of its abdomen.

Joro Spider

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The Joro Spider known by its scientific name Nephila Clavata can be found throughout Japan by its yellow stripes on a dark blue body. This spider maintains a web to catch small to large size insects and can grow to one meter in width. The female Joro can lay up to fifteen hundred eggs that she spins in an egg sack generally found on trees in late autumn. Innovative Japanese manufactures have develop efficient methods of harvesting the spider web threads to make superstrong fishing lines and even socks and stocking that a fisherman might wear.

Golden Silk Spider

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The Golden Silk Spider is most typically found in the Southeastern United States in dense forest, open woods near or in trees and low shrubs. The bite can be temporarily painful, but not fatal to humans. However, to small to medium-sized flying insects the venom starts working immediately to kill the meal. The Golden Silk spider weaves an oval web usually attached to hanging branches that is almost invisible to the naked-eye. Using each of its eight highly-sensitive legs to feel for the slightest vibration on the web, which normally alerts the spider that an insect has been trapped, and then the spider will hurry up or down the web to secure and inject its venom, before resuming the hunt. 

White Crab Spider

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The White Crab Spider is a web weaving ambush predator cloaked with several sharp daggers that look somewhat like rosebush thorns. The White and Yellow Crab Spiders are known to pack a poisonous punch that will stop its prey dead in their tracks and cause quite a painful bite to unlucky humans that are foolish enough to try to touch. Found in Costa Rica, the White Crab Spider does resemble a strange visitor from another planet, but to locals, the White Crab Spiders are accepted as neighbors.

Goliath Purple Bloom Bird Eating Spider

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The Goliath Purple Bloom Bird Eating Spider is the world’s largest tarantula and is found in marshy swamp areas in South America. Not known for eating birds as the name might lead someone to believe. This powerful predator takes down frogs, lizards, mice, snakes and toads by brute force before injecting its victim with venom. When the Goliath is threatened by another predator it can propel a cloud of barb-like hairs from its body causing severe pain and discomfort that can last an hour or so. This is not a web weaver, but an ambusher that usually occupies uninhabited holes or overhanging rock ledges. It can grow to a foot in width making it a most mincing attacker in the wild.

Peacock Spider

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A mature male Peacock Spider grows to no more than 5 mm, but what he lacks in size, he makes up with the most incredible colors. Showcasing a rainbow of red, blue, green, dark brown to black stripes and an alien-like, skin-like flap above the head, this is one spider that has the style that drives the female spiders wild. Found in Queensland and New South Wales Australia, the Peacock spider uses its excellent vision to track and kill small insects, when not busy dancing for the ladies trying to find a mate.

Black Widow Spider

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The female black widow has a shiny black body and an instinctive red hourglass marking underneath her round abdomen that serves as a warning of her deadly intention. Commonly found lurking in wood piles, under homes, in closets or any dark undisturbed place throughout the Southern United States. This fatal female can deliver potent venom that can cause death in humans in mere hours, if not seen by a medical professional to receive anti-venom to counteract her deadly cocktail. Otherwise, the black widow feeds on small to medium-sized flying insects that get trapped in her deadly web.

Six-Spotted Fishing Spider

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The Six-Spotted Fishing Spider prefers to live near water and can race across the surface like a speedboat to catch fleeing prey. These spiders do not possess a deadly bite to humans, but can certainly deliver a fatal blow to small insects unfortunate enough to stray to close to the water. The Six-Spotted Fishing Spider is an ambush hunter that relies on its speed to hunt and only weaves a web to lay eggs.

Funnel Web Spider

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The Funnel Web Spider is both an ambush and a web hunter that uses abandoned burrows to spin a wicked web that funnels much like the shape of a tornado down to its lair. Once insects and small outdoor pests stumble into the hole they are almost instantly trapped in the incredibly sticky silk threads swirling about. Struggling only makes trying to escape worse before the Funnel Web Spider quickly wraps its meal into a tight, inescapable silk coat before sucking its victim dry to the very last drop.