Cyrtophora cicatrosa

Garden tent-web spider
In bright colouration
In typical colouration
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Cyrtophora
Species:	C. cicatrosa
Binomial name
Cyrtophora cicatrosa Stoliczka, 1869

Cyrtophora cicatrosa, commonly known as the garden tent-web spider or dome spider, is a common species of orb-weavers found in many parts of Asia. It is common in gardens and has a very dense, thick, three dimensional and strong tent-like web.

Description

The chain of egg-sacks can be seen in the background.

It is a small spider, which has long legs and a green colour with yellowish markings. It can turn black with white and green markings when flushed. It is often seen upside down. ^[1] Its web is very strong but lacks sticky fibers. It is built in a three-dimensional and complex dome commonly found between branches of thorny plants, ^[1] but can be seen basically anywhere. Hence, they do not move very much from the centre of the dome in which they hang upside-down. ^[1] The dome is connected by many lines to a support, and forms a mountain shape in the middle. ^[1] A chain of green bean-like egg sacs is also a common sight in these webs.

References

1. Blanke, Rainer (2010-04-26). "Untersuchungen zum Sexualverhalten von Cyrtophora cicatrosa (Stoliczka) (Araneae, Araneidae)" . Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie. 37 (1): 62–74. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1975.tb01127.x. ISSN   0044-3573.