Spider Pavilion

Hundreds of individual spiders! We have released approximately 300 spiders into the Spider Pavilion, not counting the ones that live here year-round, like the bold jumping spiders and green lynx spiders.

Depending on availability, there are between 10-15 species of spiders in the Spider Pavilion. Most of them are orbweaver spiders that we release in the Pavilion specifically for this exhibit. Other species are local spiders that live in the Pavilion year-round. (California species are marked with “CA” next to their names)

Gem shaped orbweaver,  Araneus gemma CA
Yellow garden spider, Argiope aurantia CA
Silver garden orbweaver, Argiope argentata CA
Banded garden spider, Argiope trifasciata CA
Spinybacked orbweaver, Gasteracantha cancriformis
Orchard spider, Leucauge venusta
Arrow-shaped orbweaver, Micrathena sagittata
Western spotted orbweaver, Neoscona oaxacensis CA
Spotted orbweaver, Neoscona crucifera CA
Giant golden orbweaver, Nephila pilipes
Bold jumping spider, Phidippus audax CA
Green lynx spider, Peucetia viridans CA
Golden silk orbweaver, Trichonepila clavipes
Joro spider, Trichonephila clavata

Entomologists that live in Louisiana and Florida help us acquire some of our orbweavers by hand-collecting them from healthy populations in those areas. Similarly, colleagues in Malaysia provide the Giant Golden orbweavers. 

For our local California spider species, our own NHM Living Collections staff collect orbweavers from healthy populations within L.A. County. Jumping spiders and green lynx spiders live in the Pavilion year-round.
 

Our Living Collections team gently collects the orbweavers after the exhibit closes. We return the local orbweavers back to the areas where we collected them. The non-native orbweavers are donated to other natural history museums and zoos with year-round spider exhibits.
 

Orb-weaver spiders have six special silk-producing glands called spinnerets. The basic steps they use to build webs are below, but you can also watch this process in this BBC video. 

1. Spiders release a line of silk that floats in the air until it reaches an attachment point. This is the first strong “bridge line” that is the top horizontal line of the web.
2. Several anchor points are added to the sides to ensure the web’s stability. The spider will determine which ones are the strongest attachment points and will remove old lines of silk as she builds.
3. From there, she starts to make lines radiating out from the center of the web to the outer lines, like spokes on a wheel. 
4. Once she has laid down enough spokes, she begins the first spiral of the web. She starts in the middle and works her way out, using non-sticky  silk.
5. For the final step, she lays down another spiral, this time using sticky silk!
    

Our Living Collections team and specially trained volunteers check on our spiders every single day to ensure they are well-fed and hydrated. Spiders do not need to eat every day- in fact some can go weeks or months without eating. We offer food to our spiders once a week and monitor their body, specifically their abdomen, to see if that spider needs more or less food. Watch a video of our team in action here! 

The Pavilion is NOT a dangerous experience. Almost all spider species in the world have venom which enables them to catch, subdue, and digest their prey. They are very reluctant to use their venom defensively as it is a biological resource that is energy-consuming to produce. Spiders spend most of their time sitting quietly in their webs and only use their weak venom to capture prey when they need to eat. They are shy, skittish animals that will run and hide if they feel threatened. If a spider is heavily provoked, i.e. poked, prodded, or grabbed, it is helpful to know that their venom is generally very mild, equivalent to a bee sting.
 

The Spider Pavilion is an outdoor, open-air structure. Inside the Pavilion is a garden with a walkway that enables visitors to safely explore and observe the spiders as they would be seen in nature. The spiders are released weeks before the exhibit opens so that they can build their webs in the bushes and trees. They spend the majority of their time sitting patiently on their webs, waiting for the opportunity to catch their prey. 

Before you enter the Spider Pavilion, we have a small display of tarantulas and other large spiders that are housed inside terrariums. (See question below)

We go to great lengths to make sure our visitors are comfortable and excited before entering. We do not want this to be a scary experience, on the contrary, the staff want to show you all that there is to love about arachnids!
 

Tarantulas can live for many years (typically up to 5 years for males, and from 15-25 years for females depending on the species). Giving them individual, personal names helps our Living Collections staff keep careful records of their feeding schedules and daily care. It is also an extension of the affection we develop for these spiders that we take care of for many years.

Currently we have on display:

• "Chia", our female Greenbottle Blue tarantula, Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens
• "Bubbles", our female Pink-toed tarantula, Avicularia avicularia
• "Flicker", our female Mexican Flame-knee tarantula, Brachypelma auratum
• "Marilyn", our female Desert Blonde tarantula, Aphonopelma chalcodes
• "Chuck", our male Huntsman spider, Holconia sp.
• "Shakira", our female Carolina wolf spider, Hogna carolinensis