Araneus gemmoides Araneus gemmoides Araneus gemmoides, commonly known as the jewel spider (a name shared with "Austracantha minax") and cat-faced spider (a name shared with "Araneus gemma"), is a common outdoor orb-weaver spider found in the USA and Canada. They are considered harmless and have low-toxicity venom. "A. gemmoides" are useful natural predators for insects. "A. gemmoides" make their webs near lights, closed spaces, and on the sides of buildings. They can also be found under wood, overhangs, or guarded places such as animal burrows. They come in varying colors but are easily identified by the two horn shaped growths on their
Botanical garden (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 1670); and in France ("Jardin des plantes de Montpellier", 1593; Faculty of Medicine Garden, Paris, 1597; "Jardin des Plantes", Paris, 1635), Denmark (University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden, 1600); Sweden (Uppsala University, 1655). During the 16th and 17th centuries, the first plants were being imported to these major Western European gardens from Eastern Europe and nearby Asia (which provided many bulbs), and these found a place in the new gardens, where they could be conveniently studied by the plant experts of the day. For example, Asian introductions were described by Carolus Clusius (1526–1609), who was director, in