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 (cf. genus Isoxya). These spiders can reach sizes of up to 30 mm 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".

Media related to Gasteracantha at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Gasteracantha at Wikispecies

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