Black-throated Mango vs Cobweb Spiders

Anthracothorax nigricollis compared with Parasteatoda tepidariorum

Taxonomic Classification

Rank Black-throated Mango Cobweb Spiders
Kingdom same Animalia (Animals) Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Chordata (Chordates) Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Aves (Birds) Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Apodiformes (Apodiformes) Araneae (Araneae)
Family Trochilidae Theridiidae
Genus Anthracothorax Parasteatoda
Species Anthracothorax nigricollis Parasteatoda tepidariorum

Evolutionary Relationship

Black-throated Mango and Cobweb Spiders share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Black-throated Mango

LC — Least Concern

Cobweb Spiders

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute Black-throated Mango Cobweb Spiders
Diet
Average Lifespan
Average Length
Average Weight

Habitat & Geographic Range

Black-throated Mango

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Cobweb Spiders

Habitat

Typically found in terrestrial habitats from forests to deserts.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (Taiwan), Europe (7 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and South America (Colombia).

Black-throated Mango

A large, striking hummingbird of tropical forests from southern Mexico to Argentina, black-throated mangos have dramatic sexual dimorphism — males display glittering black throat and breast with violet and green flanks and a bold purple tail, while females are white below with a central black stripe. Inhabiting forest edges, clearings, and gardens, they aggressively defend flowering trees. Males perform spectacular aerial display flights at treetop height. Listed as Least Concern across their broad neotropical range.

Cobweb Spiders

The common house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) is one of the most cosmopolitan of all spider species, having followed human civilization to virtually every inhabited corner of the globe. A member of the family Theridiidae, this small to medium-sized spider—females reaching 5–8 millimeters, males somewhat smaller—constructs the characteristic messy, three-dimensional cobwebs in sheltered corners of buildings, under eaves, in cellars, and in other human-modified structures worldwide. Originally native to North and South America, the species has spread through commerce and human transport to Europe, Asia, Africa, and beyond, where it thrives in the stable temperature and prey-rich conditions provided by human habitation. The web design is deceptively effective: irregular sticky threads radiate in all directions from a silk retreat, ensnaring flies, mosquitoes, ants, and other arthropods that blunder into the structure. Females are long-lived—surviving several years—and produce multiple egg sacs containing hundreds of eggs during a lifetime, contributing to the species' population resilience. Parasteatoda tepidariorum has become an important laboratory model organism for arachnid developmental biology, with its genome sequenced to facilitate studies of spider gene expression, venom evolution, and silk production. It is broadly classified as Least Concern given its cosmopolitan distribution and remarkable adaptation to anthropogenic environments.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

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