Tallgrass Prairie Spiders: Pictures & Checklist

Tallgrass Prairie restoration efforts over the past couple of decades spurred ecosystem research that includes spider surveys. During the initial restoration phase, researchers suggested that spider diversity and density served as an indicator of relative prairie health. Spiders as predators help maintain an ecosystem balance of the prairie by preying on many of the leaf consuming anthropoids that also inhabit the prairie.

The checklist of Tallgrass Prairie spiders was created using the species presented in three separate research projects covering three separate tallgrass areas. Additionally each research project used a distinct methodology for creating their checklist.

It consists of around two hundred spider species covering twenty two different spider families.

The Reed publication, Reed, Catherine. List of Insect Species which May Be Tallgrass Prairie Specialists Final Report to the USFWS Cooperating Agencies. July 1, 1996. , the earliest list, consisted of thirty five species that the author broadly labeled “may be prairie specialist”. It was derived from a literature review of the literature that included mentions of spiders in both the north and south tallgrass regions.

Jesús E. Gómez, Jenny Lohmiller and Anthony Joern 2016. Importance of vegetation structure to the assembly of an aerial web-building spider community in North American open grassland. Journal of Arachnology, 44(1): 28-35.
Spider survey at Flint Hills documented about one hundred different species collected over a three year time span using a vacuuming method.

Richard A. Bradley, Shauna L. Price, William L. Hickman, Robert A. Klips. Passive Re-colonization of the Spider Assemblage on an Ohio Restored Tall Grass Prairie Compared to Nearby Remnant Prairies and Old Fields. The Ohio Journal of Science. Vol. 120 No. 2 (2020)

Using both pit trap and sweeping capture methods, the authors documented 94 species. The author also notes, “in a separate investigation at the MCP site, a total of 1,646 individuals representing 143 species have been collected between 1988 and 2006 (unpublished data)”.

The large number of species in the checklist is more a function of differences in research questions and methodology than differences in spider species found in northern versus southern tallgrass prairies.

For example, the large number of ground spiders and wolf spiders documented in the Ohio study was a direct result of their pit trap methodology. Placing traps in the ground collects a diverse range of ground based spiders. The Flint Hills study focused on habitat diversity and the presence of orb weaving spiders. Under that research plan the authors orbweaving list of over two dozen species would be expected to surpass a study without such an emphasis.

A quick check of Bugguide also shows similar ranges for many of the orbweaving spiders. Taken together, the compiled checklist shows fairly robust spider diversity. Press or click the green Spiders button to learn more. Scroll down the page for some spider pictures and the complete checklist.

Tallgrass Prairie Spiders: Orb Weavers

Black-spotted Orbweaver (Araneus miniatus)

Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia )

Lined Orbweaver (Mangora gibberosa) nice view of the spider and stabilimentum

Marbled Orbweaver (Araneus marmoreus)

Orchard Orb Weaver

Silver Long-Jawed Orb Weaver (Tetragnatha laboriosa)

Orb Weavers

Crab Spiders

The large number of species in the crab spider family Thomisidae along wide spread ranges for a subset of those species makes for a nice diversity of crab spiders in the Tallgrass Prairie ecosystem. Species from four of the more colorful genera:

• Misumena
• Misumenoides
• Misumessus
• Mecaphesa

often go by the general name flower crab spiders and can be found on the native plants.

Eye pattern rather than body color often is the best way to differentiate between species. Three species, Goldenrod Crab Spiders (Misumena vatia), Green Crab Spider (Misumessus oblongus), and Whitebanded Crab Spider (Misumenoides formosipes) have very wide ranges that include almost all of the Tallgrass Prairie states. The picture shows a Whitebanded Crab Spider.

A closer look toward the ground and surrounding areas brings us another group of Thomisidae crab spiders, the ground crab spiders. Physically they tend to be smaller than the flower crab spiders with a brown body color.

Jumping Spiders

Phidippus cardinalis

The genus Phidippus is complex. In particular, for those species with reddish or orangish carapaces and/or abdomens, certain of the outward markings commonly used to distinguish between the species have been in dispute. Those disputes have, in some cases, raged for more than a century.

Bold Jumper

Zebra Jumper

Wolf Spiders

Wetland Giant Wolf Spider ( Hogna helluo )

Lanceolate Wolf Spider

Lynx Spiders

Western Lynx Spider (Oxyopes scalaris ) pictured. Also includes Striped Lynx spider.