Back to album

Naming Variations - _TNY_7565

The English name for the species Nuctenea umbratica is "walnut orb-weaver" and is of course in reference to the jagged marking on the abdomen of the spider.

 

In Swedish, this is instead a "större skuggspindel", meaning "greater shadow spider" (there is a slightly smaller "lesser" species here as well) - and the scientific "umbratica" follows along with this, basically meaning "living in the shadow". The Netherlands agree as their "schaduwwielwebspin" would be somthing like "shadow wheel web spider".

 

The German name takes off in the species basically being a nocturnal version of the European garden spider/cross orb-weaver by calling it "Spaltenkreutzspinne" - "the crevice cross spider" (even though this species lacks a cross marking).

 

In Norway, their name reflects it's living habits as they absolutely love to build their webs along the sides of houses and only come out at night. "Husnattvever" translates into "house night weaver".

1,176 views
9 faves
15 comments
Uploaded on April 8, 2024
Taken on October 17, 2018