Spiny orb-weaver

Spiny orb-weaver
G. cancriformis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Subphylum:Chelicerata
Class:Arachnida
Order:Araneae
Infraorder:Araneomorphae
Family:Araneidae
Genus:Gasteracantha
Sundevall, 1833[1]
Species

See text.

Spiny orb-weavers is a common name for Gasteracantha, a genus of spiders. They are also commonly called spiny-backed orb-weavers, due to the prominent spines on their abdomen (compare genus Isoxya). These spiders can reach sizes of up to 3 cm (1.2 in) in diameter (measured from spike to spike). Although their abdomen is shaped like a crab shell with spikes, it is not to be confused with a crab spider.

Often brightly colored, spiny orb-weavers have a broad, hard abdomen that can be white, orange, or yellow with red markings.[2] The female shell is ringed by six red or orange spines, whereas the smaller male lacks the spiny projections and instead has four to five stubby dark projections.[3]

Yellow spiny back orb weaver spider. Photographed in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Orb-weavers' bites are generally harmless to humans.[4]

Gasteracantha geminata

Species

As of April 2016, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species:[1]

  • Gasteracantha aciculata (Pocock, 1899) – New Britain
  • Gasteracantha acutispina Dahl, 1914 – Sulawesi
  • Gasteracantha audouini Guérin, 1838 – Sumatra, Timor, Amboina, Philippines
  • Gasteracantha aureola Mi & Peng, 2013 – China
  • Gasteracantha beccarii Thorell, 1877 – Sulawesi
  • Gasteracantha biloba (Thorell, 1878) – Moluccas, Amboina
  • Gasteracantha cancriformis (Linnaeus, 1758) (type species) – New World
  • Gasteracantha clarki Emerit, 1974 – Seychelles
  • Gasteracantha clavatrix (Walckenaer, 1841) – Lombok, Sulawesi, Mentawai Is.
  • Gasteracantha clavigera Giebel, 1863 – Thailand, Philippines, Sulawesi
  • Gasteracantha crucigera Bradley, 1877 – Malaysia, Java, Borneo, New Guinea
  • Gasteracantha curvispina (Guérin, 1837) – West, Central Africa, Bioko
  • Gasteracantha curvistyla Dahl, 1914 – Togian Is., near Sulawesi
  • Gasteracantha cuspidata C. L. Koch, 1837 – Malaysia, Nicobar Is., Java
  • Gasteracantha dalyi Pocock, 1900 – India, Pakistan
  • Gasteracantha diadesmia Thorell, 1887 – India to Philippines
  • Gasteracantha diardi (Lucas, 1835) – China, Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Sunda Is.
  • Gasteracantha doriae Simon, 1877 – Singapore, Sumatra, Borneo
  • Gasteracantha falcicornis Butler, 1873 – Africa
  • Gasteracantha fasciata Guérin, 1838 – New Guinea, Guam
  • Gasteracantha flava Nicolet, 1849 – Chile
  • Gasteracantha fornicata (Fabricius, 1775) – Queensland
  • Gasteracantha frontata Blackwall, 1864 – India, Myanmar, Thailand, Flores, Borneo
  • Gasteracantha gambeyi Simon, 1877 – New Caledonia
  • Gasteracantha geminata (Fabricius, 1798) – India, Sri Lanka
  • Gasteracantha hasselti C. L. Koch, 1837 – India, China to Moluccas
  • Gasteracantha hecata (Walckenaer, 1841) – Philippines
  • Gasteracantha interrupta Dahl, 1914 – Lombok, Sulawesi
  • Gasteracantha irradiata (Walckenaer, 1841) – Thailand to Philippines, Sulawesi
  • Gasteracantha janopol Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
  • Gasteracantha kuhli C. L. Koch, 1837 – India to Japan, Philippines
  • Gasteracantha lepelletieri (Guérin, 1825) – Sumatra to Philippines, New Guinea
  • Gasteracantha lunata Guérin, 1838 – Timor, Moluccas, New Caledonia
  • Gasteracantha martensi Dahl, 1914 – Sumatra
  • Gasteracantha mediofusca (Doleschall, 1859) – Java, New Guinea
  • Gasteracantha mengei Keyserling, 1864 – Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo
  • Gasteracantha metallica (Pocock, 1898) – Solomon Is.
  • Gasteracantha milvoides Butler, 1873 – Central, East, Southern Africa
  • Gasteracantha notata Kulczyński, 1910 – New Britain
  • Gasteracantha panisicca Butler, 1873 – Myanmar to Philippines, Java
  • Gasteracantha parangdiadesmia Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
  • Gasteracantha pentagona (Walckenaer, 1841) – New Ireland, New Britain
  • Gasteracantha picta (Thorell, 1892) – Singapore
  • Gasteracantha quadrispinosa O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1879 – New Guinea, Queensland
  • Gasteracantha recurva Simon, 1877 – Philippines
  • Gasteracantha regalis Butler, 1873 – New Hebrides
  • Gasteracantha remifera Butler, 1873 – India, Sri Lanka
  • Gasteracantha rhomboidea Guérin, 1838 – Mauritius
  • Gasteracantha rubrospinis Guérin, 1838 – Lombok, Sulawesi, Moluccas, New Caledonia, Guam
  • Gasteracantha rufithorax Simon, 1881 – Madagascar
  • Gasteracantha sacerdotalis L. Koch, 1872 – New Guinea, Queensland, New Caledonia
  • Gasteracantha sanguinea Dahl, 1914 – Philippines
  • Gasteracantha sanguinolenta C. L. Koch, 1844 – Africa, São Tomé, Yemen, Seychelles, Socotra
  • Gasteracantha sapperi Dahl, 1914 – New Guinea
  • Gasteracantha sauteri Dahl, 1914 – China, Taiwan
  • Gasteracantha scintillans Butler, 1873 – Solomon Is.
  • Gasteracantha signifera Pocock, 1898 – Solomon Is.
  • Gasteracantha simoni O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1879 – Central Africa
  • Gasteracantha sororna Butler, 1873 – India
  • Gasteracantha sturi (Doleschall, 1857) – Laos, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Moluccas
  • Gasteracantha subaequispina Dahl, 1914 – Borneo, New Guinea
  • Gasteracantha taeniata (Walckenaer, 1841) – India to Polynesia
  • Gasteracantha theisi Guérin, 1838 – New Guinea, Moluccas
  • Gasteracantha thomasinsulae Archer, 1951 – São Tomé
  • Gasteracantha thorelli Keyserling, 1864 – Madagascar
  • Gasteracantha tondanae Pocock, 1897 – Sulawesi
  • Gasteracantha transversa C. L. Koch, 1837 – Sumatra, Java
  • Gasteracantha unguifera Simon, 1889 – China, India
  • Gasteracantha versicolor (Walckenaer, 1841) – Central, East, Southern Africa
  • Gasteracantha westringi Keyserling, 1864 – Australia, Admiralty Is., New Caledonia

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Gen. Gasteracantha Sundevall, 1833", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2016-04-22
  2. ↑ "Beneficial spiders in the landscape: #23 Spiny Orb Weaver Spider". aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu. Beneficials in the Garden & Landscape.
  3. ↑ Weber, Lynne; Weber, Jim (2011). Nature Watch Austin: Guide to the Seasons in an Urban Wildland. Amazon Digital Services LLC: Texas A&M University Press. p. 128.
  4. ↑ "Urban Spider Chart".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.