Spiny-Backed Hermit-Crab Spider

Gasteracantha Cancriformis, White Spiny-Backed Weaver, East-Coast sub-species 

Spiders with spiked white & black shells on their backs.

Sighted from North Carolina to West Virginia since 1985.

They have become the dominant woodland spider in Jefferson County, WV.

This variety is distinct from the Texas and Florida Spiny Orb Weaver in that the shell is mostly mono-chromatic (in this case white, but sometimes black) with very little pattern, no red tips, and the abdomen shape is more like a hermit-crab rather than a regular crab.

This article was written because there was no previous internet article concerning this spider.

They bite but do not appear poisonous to humans.