Araneus diadematus Araneus diadematus The spider species Araneus diadematus is commonly called the European garden spider, diadem spider, orangie, cross spider and crowned orb weaver. It is sometimes called the pumpkin spider, although this name is also used for a different species, "Araneus marmoreus". It is an orb-weaver spider found in Europe and North America. "A. diadematus" has a holarctic distribution, found throughout Europe and across North America, from southern Canada to Mexico, and from British Columbia to Newfoundland. Individual spiders' colourings can range from extremely light yellow to very dark grey, but all "A. diadematus" have mottled white markings across the
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