Guide

Look closerInsects

Garden spider egg sacs that can last through winter

November to February

Garden spiders (orb weavers) die in autumn, but the papery brown egg sacs they leave behind can stay put all winter. Young spiders inside wait out the cold and come out in spring.

Why this time of year

Once frost has killed the spiders, the egg sacs they left behind are what remains to find.

How to notice it

  1. Walk a meadow edge or garden bed where big yellow-and-black garden spiders had webs, and look among the tall grasses and plants for a tan to brown, papery, roughly round ball up to about an inch across.
  2. Look without touching. Crouch down and use a phone camera to zoom in.

Try this with kids: Can you find a sac that looks like a tiny brown fig or paper ball? Count how many you can spot without touching one.

Phrase to know: An “egg sac” is a silk case a spider spins to hold its eggs.

Safety

  • Sources describe these spiders as rarely biting and not medically significant. Look without poking.

Sources

  • animaldiversity.orgBrown papery egg sacs up to 25 mm, 300-1400 eggs, attached to one side of web; in cold-winter areas eggs hatch late summer/autumn but spiderlings stay dormant in the sac until spring; female dies in first hard frost. University of Michigan database (secondary-academic).
  • extension.msstate.eduLarge tan egg sacs up to an inch across; spiderlings remain inside the sac and do not emerge until spring. Extension, Mississippi.
  • portal.ct.govNortheast extension-type source (CT Agricultural Experiment Station): garden spider eggs laid in large cases at end of summer and overwinter; Araneus egg sacs laid in fall, adult dies, eggs overwinter inside the female's shelter, hundreds of spiderlings emerge in spring and balloon; bites rare and not medically significant; barn and cross spiders most frequent Araneus in New England.
  • fieldreport.caes.uga.eduSac 'looks like a brown fig', attached to one side of web, laid around September or October; young overwinter in sac until spring. Extension, Georgia.
  • news.maryland.govSilken cocoon almost an inch across; young emerge following spring; rarely bite, no medically significant venom. State agency, Maryland.
  • extension.msstate.eduMarbled orb weavers overwinter as eggs in sacs hidden among leaves and twigs; hatch in spring. Extension, Mississippi.
  • mdc.mo.govMissouri Department of Conservation (state agency): 'Each female can create about 4 egg cases in her life and generally attaches them to nearby plants'; egg cases 'papery and tan'; 'During winter, the large egg cases of these spiders are eaten by birds such as titmice and chickadees.'

Checked against these sources on October 13, 2026.

In the guide for November, December, January, February

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