The male spider is three-quarters of the female’s length, or slightly larger, with a darker carapace and with greater contrast between dark and light areas of the legs.

[1] Metepeira are easily distinguished from other Araneidae by their light eye region, white median line on the sternum, relative length of the leg segments, small male palpus, weakly sclerotized epigyne and the special composite web.

[2] This retreat is a tangled, knotted web made with some debris and leaves woven into the silk, placed so as to make a small tent for the spider.

Orange trees, which have many dead and bare lower branches, provide places for the webs in thorny clusters of twigs.

By retaining insects that strike the web, these spirally designed threads allow a spider time to locate their prey.

[5] In June 1980, a field experiment was performed in Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Prince George's County, Maryland, to determine if food is a limiting resource for adult females of Metepeira labyrinthea.

Feeding continued like this for 2.5 months and at the end of the experiment all egg sacs were removed from the units.