Editing Orb-weaver spider (section)

{{Short description|Family of spiders}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Orb-weaver spiders
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Cretaceous|present}}
| image = Argiope catenulata at Kadavoor.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Argiope catenulata]]''
| taxon = Araneidae
| authority = [[Carl Alexander Clerck|Clerck]], 1757
| range_map = Distribution.araneidae.1.png
| diversity = [[#Genera|186 genera]], 3108 species
}}

'''Orb-weaver spiders''' are members of the [[spider]] [[family (biology)|family]] '''Araneidae'''. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped [[spider web|webs]] often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular",<ref name=MW_orb/> hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no [[stridulation|stridulating]] organs.

The family has a [[cosmopolitan distribution]], including many well-known large or brightly colored garden spiders. With 3,108 [[species]] in 186 [[genus|genera]] worldwide, the Araneidae comprise one of the largest family of spiders (with the [[Salticidae]] and [[Linyphiidae]]).<ref name=WSC_stats/> Araneid webs are constructed in a stereotypical fashion, where a framework of nonsticky [[spider silk|silk]] is built up before the spider adds a final spiral of silk covered in sticky droplets.

[[Spider web#Orb web construction|Orb webs]] are also produced by members of other spider families. The long-jawed orb weavers ([[Tetragnathidae]]) were formerly included in the Araneidae; they are closely related, being part of the [[taxonomic rank|superfamily]] [[Araneoidea]]. The family Arkyidae has been split off from the Araneidae.<ref name=DimiBenaArneGiri16>{{Citation |mode=cs1 |last1=Dimitrov |first1=Dimitar |last2=Benavides |first2=Ligia R. |last3=Arnedo |first3=Miquel A. |last4=Giribet |first4=Gonzalo |last5=Griswold |first5=Charles E. |last6=Scharff |first6=Nikolaj |last7=Hormiga |first7=Gustavo |date=2016 |title=Rounding up the usual suspects: a standard target-gene approach for resolving the interfamilial phylogenetic relationships of ecribellate orb-weaving spiders with a new family-rank classification (Araneae, Araneoidea) |journal=Cladistics |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=221–250 |url=http://macroecointern.dk/pdf-reprints/Dimitrov_Cladistics_2016.pdf |access-date=2016-10-18 |doi=10.1111/cla.12165 |pmid=34715728 |s2cid=34962403 |name-list-style=amp |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Dimitrov-Hormiga-2020">{{cite journal | last1=Dimitrov | first1=Dimitar | last2=Hormiga | first2=Gustavo | title=Spider Diversification Through Space and Time | journal=[[Annual Review of Entomology]] | publisher=[[Annual Reviews (publisher)|Annual Reviews]] | volume=66 | issue=1 | date=2021-01-07 | issn=0066-4170 | doi=10.1146/annurev-ento-061520-083414 | pages=225–241| pmid=32822555 | s2cid=221235817 }}</ref><ref name=WSC_stats/> The [[Cribellum|cribellate]] or hackled orb-weavers ([[Uloboridae]]) belong to a different group of spiders. Their webs are strikingly similar, but use a different kind of silk.