Arachnids are the 8-limbed arthropods, including spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks, and others. With over 500 species of spiders in Oregon not to mention the other families, it would be impossible to include every Columbia County species here. I’ve shown some of the most common and/or interesting arachnids you might find.
List of all arachnids recorded in Columbia County
Yellow Garden Spider – Part of the Orbweaver family, building large round webs with a zigzag pattern in the middle. (photo © codyhenson123 )
Cross Orbweaver – Introduced from Europe. Like all Orbweavers it builds a new web every morning after eating the old one. (photo © emmaraven )
Six-spotted Orbweaver – This species builds small webs just 3-4″ across. Found across North America, Europe, and Asia. (photo © edoswalt )
Shamrock Orbweaver – Color varies but always has white spots. Like other Orbweavers, bite is painful but not dangerous. (photo © Mike Patterson )
Bronze Jumping Spider – Members of the Jumping Spider family are active hunters, seeking out prey and then pouncing on them. (photo © James )
Zebra Jumping Spider – The middle two of its eight eyes are very large, as Jumping Spiders hunt their prey by sight rather than building a web. (photo © Lee Cain )
Johnson’s Jumping Spider – One of our largest Jumping Spiders, about 0.4″ long. It can jump up to five times its own body length. (photo © Jim Johnson )
Bold Jumping Spider – Jumping Spiders do have small silk-lined nests on the ground, where they rest at night and take their prey to eat. (photo © danpvdb )
Sierra Dome Spider – Part of the Sheet Web Spider family, this one builds a web in the shape of a dome between the limbs of bushes or trees. (photo © Johannes Riutta )
Giant House Spider – Originally from Europe but now in homes in Oregon, it is the largest (1-3″ legspan) spider around. Hides in a funnel on the edge of its flat web. (photo © disciseda )
Long-bodied Cellar Spider – Often mistaken for a Harvestman (Daddy Longlegs), this is a true spider that builds tangle webs in dark places in homes. (photo © rojasburke )
Yellow Sac Spider – Has no web but hides in silk sac, coming out at night to hunt. Often lives in homes and is responsible for human bites, but is not dangerous. (photo © giorege1959 )
Common Candy-striped Spider – Can have 1 or 2 red stripes, or none at all. A Tangle Web Spider that builds cobwebs in corners and empty space. (photo © Grant Bassett )
Common House Spider – The most common Tangle Web species in homes, it would rather run away than bite, though bites are quite painful. (photo © David Anderson )
False Black Widow – Another Tangle Web species, bites can cause severe pain and blistering, headache, and nausea, but are not deadly. (photo © Howard Bruner )
Western Black Widow – The red hourglass identifies the only truly dangerous species in our region. It is rarely seen here and prefers drier habitats. (photo © Sam McNally )
Western Black-legged Tick – A small tick just 1/10th of an inch long, but carries Lyme Disease and several other diseases. Sometimes called “deer ticks”. (photo © Thomas Barbin )
American Dog Tick – This is a female, the males have a similar white marble across the entire body. These ticks are much larger and don’t carry as many diseases. (photo © Mike Burrell )
Red Velvet Mites – These little red mites are active predators in the soil as adults. In India they are collected for traditional medicine. (photo © David Anderson )
Pseudoscorpions – Tiny arachnids with pinchers like scorpions but are much smaller and have no stinger. Usually found under cover in dead wood or soil. (photo © Matt Hunter )
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