[2] This species displays sexual dimorphism, and, like most orb-weaver spiders, the females are significantly larger than the males.

[3] Barn spiders are nocturnal, constructing (under cover of darkness) a web with symmetrical spokes connected by sticky spirals.

When agitated (by a puff of air, for instance), these spiders sometimes bounce up and down in the center of their webs, possibly in an attempt to look larger and more threatening.

If the spider senses a likely meal has been caught, it moves to it and immediately begins to wrap it with silk.

Barn spiders are most common in the Northeastern United States and the southern prairie parts of Canada.