Home / Cobweb Spiders / Happy Face (Theridion grallator)

Happy Face (Theridion grallator)

The Happy Face spider has a special design that looks like a smiley face on its belly! It lives on a few islands in Hawaii, and each spider has its own unique pattern. Sometimes, these patterns even change from one island to another. Some don’t have any marks at all! People believe the bright designs might help them stay safe from birds. But, these spiders are becoming less common and might need some help soon.

Scientific Classification

Happy Face Spider
Hawaiian Happy Face Spider

Physical Description and Identification

Adults

  • Size: Up to 5 mm (0.20 in) in length
  • Color: The entire body is pale to bright yellow in color with the characteristic red smiling marks in the middle of the body, and two pairs of dots just below it that resemble two eyes with eyebrows.
  • Other Characteristic Features: The male Hawaiian happy face spiders leave their webs and roam around in the forest in search of a female spider for reproduction. Once found, it performs a courtship and indulges in mating, after which it dies soon.

By evolution, their legs are somewhat translucent and are quite long. Both these features help them remain attached to the base of the leaves almost invisible.

Happy Face Spider Size

Eggs

The females lay up to 250 eggs at a time, after which, they place them in silk brown-toned egg sacs and stick them to the web. The female spider guards and protects the eggs from predators until the babies hatch.

Happy Face Spider Eggs

Spiderlings

The mother spider catches prey for its young ones. The eggs go through all the stages of the larval life before they eventually hatch out as baby spiders. Like most of the other species, they resemble smaller versions of the adults when they first come out of the eggs and live on insects that are caught in the web. The juveniles keep shedding their exoskeletons in their process of growing quite a few times throughout their life.

Baby Happy Face Spider

Are Happy Face Spiders Venomous?

Like other cobweb spiders, Happy Face spiders also have venom. But they use it mainly to catch tiny bugs. It’s not strong enough to bother people.

Can Happy Face Spiders Bite?

They can bite if they feel cornered. The bite might feel like a small pinch, but it’s usually not a problem for most folks.

Happy Face Spider Web

Quick Facts

Other Names Hawaiian happy-face spider, nananana makakiʻi (Hawaiian name, meaning ‘face-patterned spider’)
Lifespan Males die soon after mating, but females live longer
Distribution Only found on four of the Hawaiian islands, viz. Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii.
Habitat Rainforest areas
Common predators Island birds are their primary enemies
Diet Any small insect that it encounters
Happy Face Spider Image

Did You Know

  • Unlike many other spiders that use their webs as a medium to detect prey, these species detect their prey through the vibrations made by the prey, which are transmitted through the residence leaf.
  • Before mating, a male creates sound by rubbing two body parts together.
Picture of a Happy Face Spider

Image Credits: Live.staticflickr.com, D36tnp772eyphs.cloudfront.net, Imgc.allpostersimages.com, Footage.framepool.com, veresan.com,
Farm9.staticflickr.com, Static1.squarespace.com, Footage.framepool.com

The Happy Face spider has a special design that looks like a smiley face on its belly! It lives on a few islands in Hawaii, and each spider has its own unique pattern. Sometimes, these patterns even change from one island to another. Some don’t have any marks at all! People believe the bright designs might help them stay safe from birds. But, these spiders are becoming less common and might need some help soon.

Happy Face Spider
Hawaiian Happy Face Spider

Physical Description and Identification

Adults

  • Size: Up to 5 mm (0.20 in) in length
  • Color: The entire body is pale to bright yellow in color with the characteristic red smiling marks in the middle of the body, and two pairs of dots just below it that resemble two eyes with eyebrows.
  • Other Characteristic Features: The male Hawaiian happy face spiders leave their webs and roam around in the forest in search of a female spider for reproduction. Once found, it performs a courtship and indulges in mating, after which it dies soon.

By evolution, their legs are somewhat translucent and are quite long. Both these features help them remain attached to the base of the leaves almost invisible.

Happy Face Spider Size

Eggs

The females lay up to 250 eggs at a time, after which, they place them in silk brown-toned egg sacs and stick them to the web. The female spider guards and protects the eggs from predators until the babies hatch.

Happy Face Spider Eggs

Spiderlings

The mother spider catches prey for its young ones. The eggs go through all the stages of the larval life before they eventually hatch out as baby spiders. Like most of the other species, they resemble smaller versions of the adults when they first come out of the eggs and live on insects that are caught in the web. The juveniles keep shedding their exoskeletons in their process of growing quite a few times throughout their life.

Baby Happy Face Spider

Are Happy Face Spiders Venomous?

Like other cobweb spiders, Happy Face spiders also have venom. But they use it mainly to catch tiny bugs. It’s not strong enough to bother people.

Can Happy Face Spiders Bite?

They can bite if they feel cornered. The bite might feel like a small pinch, but it’s usually not a problem for most folks.

Happy Face Spider Web

Quick Facts

Other Names Hawaiian happy-face spider, nananana makakiʻi (Hawaiian name, meaning ‘face-patterned spider’)
Lifespan Males die soon after mating, but females live longer
Distribution Only found on four of the Hawaiian islands, viz. Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii.
Habitat Rainforest areas
Common predators Island birds are their primary enemies
Diet Any small insect that it encounters
Happy Face Spider Image

Did You Know

  • Unlike many other spiders that use their webs as a medium to detect prey, these species detect their prey through the vibrations made by the prey, which are transmitted through the residence leaf.
  • Before mating, a male creates sound by rubbing two body parts together.
Picture of a Happy Face Spider

Image Credits: Live.staticflickr.com, D36tnp772eyphs.cloudfront.net, Imgc.allpostersimages.com, Footage.framepool.com, veresan.com,
Farm9.staticflickr.com, Static1.squarespace.com, Footage.framepool.com