Gasteracantha diardi

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Gasteracantha diardi
Gasteracantha diardi (Penang Hill, Malaysia) CC0 Scott Loarie.jpg
X-mas spider from Aceh (8187156263).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Gasteracantha
Species:
G. diardi
Binomial name
Gasteracantha diardi
(Lucas, 1835) [1]

Gasteracantha diardi is a species of spider in the spiny orb-weaver genus Gasteracantha . It occurs in Southeast Asia. [1]

Contents

Distribution

The range of Gasteracantha diardi includes southern China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Borneo, and other Sunda Islands in Indonesia. [1]

Description

Females of the species have very wide abdomens, much wider than long, giving them a horizontal appearance that is further accentuated by their spines. They have three pairs of spines on the abdomen. The first (anterior) pair is usually small and conical. The second (median) pair is long and strong, generally horizontal but often curving slightly backward and downward or even slightly forward. The hind pair of spines is always well-developed and intermediate in length between the first two pairs. [2] Adult females are usually dark red [3] or brown and can show pale yellowish or whitish stripes horizontally across the upper surface of the abdomen [2] (example from Thailand).

The upper surface of the abdomen fluoresces blue under ultraviolet light. [4]

Similar species

G. diardi can be confused with G. mengei , which lacks hind spines and has longer, straighter anterior spines and straight, tapering median spines. [2] The two species overlap on the Greater Sundas, Peninsular Malaysia, and Singapore. G. diardi can also be confused with G. doriae , which is brown with light stripes and has a slightly longer abdomen than G. diardi (creating a rounder silhouette), forward-pointing anterior spines, and median spines that are thin, relatively short, and curved somewhat back. [2]

Because G. diardi is widespread and variable, it has numerous synonyms, [1] most of which were brought together by zoologist Friedrich Dahl in 1914 based on his examination of specimens at the Natural History Museum, Berlin. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Austracantha</i> Genus of spiders

Austracantha is a genus of spider with a single species, Austracantha minax, commonly known as the jewel spider or the Christmas spider. It is a member of the family Araneidae and is endemic to Australia. They are relatively small spiders, reaching a maximum total body length of only around 12 mm (0.47 in) for females, and 5 mm (0.20 in) for males. Their abdomen has six distinctive projections ("spines") that makes them easy to identify. They are predominantly a shiny black, with variable white, yellow, and orange patterns. Melanistic forms also occur during autumn. They are facultatively gregarious, and can be found in large aggregations of overlapping orb webs. They feed on small flying insects that get entangled in their webs. They are harmless to humans, though the webs can be a nuisance for bushwalkers. They are most abundant during the summer months.

<i>Gasteracantha</i> Genus of spiders

Gasteracantha is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first named by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. Species of the genus are known as spiny-backed orb-weavers, spiny orb-weavers, or spiny spiders. The females of most species are brightly colored with six prominent spines on their broad, hardened, shell-like abdomens. The name Gasteracantha is derived from the Greek gaster (γαστήρ), meaning "belly, abdomen", and akantha (άκανθα), meaning "thorn, spine". Spiny-backed orb-weavers are sometimes colloquially called "crab spiders" because of their shape, but they are not closely related to the true crab spiders. Other colloquial names for certain species include thorn spider, star spider, kite spider, or jewel spider.

<i>Gasteracantha fornicata</i> Species of spider

Gasteracantha fornicata is a species of spiny orb-weavers found in Queensland Australia. It is similar in shape to Austracantha minax which was originally described as Gasteracantha minax. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775, the first Australian species of spider to be named and classified.

<i>Gasteracantha cancriformis</i> Species of spider

Gasteracantha cancriformis is a species of orb-weaver spider. It is widely distributed in the New World.

<i>Thelacantha</i> Genus of spiders

Thelacantha is a genus of orb-weaver spiders containing the single species, Thelacantha brevispina. It was first described by A. W. M. van Hasselt in 1882, and has been found in Australia, Madagascar, and across southern Asia from India to Philippines, including Japan. It has also been introduced into Hawaii. T. brevispina is closely related those in the genus Gasteracantha, and was briefly synonymized with it in 1859, but revalidated in 1974. Saito described three other Thelacantha species in 1933, which were later synonymized with T. brevispina.

<i>Gasteracantha versicolor</i> Species of spider

Gasteracantha versicolor, known as the long-winged kite spider, is a species of diurnal spiny orb-weaver of the family Araneidae. It is found in the tropics and sub-tropics, where it occurs in forests. It has an extensive range, from central, east and southern Africa to Madagascar.

<i>Gasteracantha geminata</i> Species of spider

Gasteracantha geminata is a species of spider of the genus Gasteracantha, found in India and Sri Lanka. It is known as the oriental spiny orb-weaver.

<i>Gasteracantha remifera</i> Species of spider

Gasteracantha remifera is a species of spiny orb-weaver spider in the genus Gasteracantha. It is found in Sri Lanka and India, and it has a pair of long, club-shaped spines on its abdomen.

<i>Macracantha</i> Genus of Asian orb-weaver spiders

Macracantha is a genus of Asian orb-weaver spiders recognized as containing the species, Macracantha arcuata., although some schemes also recognise inclusion of Gasteracantha hasselti in this genus. Macracantha is notable for the extremely long, curved spines on the abdomens of female members of the genus; Eugène Simon created the taxon name from the Greek words μακρός and ἄκανθα (spine). It occurs from India and China through Southeast Asia to Indonesia.

<i>Gasteracantha kuhli</i> Species of arachnid

Gasteracantha kuhli is a species of spiny orb-weaver spider in the genus Gasteracantha, widespread from India to Japan, the Philippines, and Java in Indonesia. It is known as the black-and-white spiny spider.

<i>Gasteracantha clavatrix</i> Species of arachnid

Gasteracantha clavatrix is a species of spider of the genus Gasteracantha. It occurs in Indonesia.

<i>Gasteracantha clavigera</i> Species of arachnid

Gasteracantha clavigera is a species of spider in the spiny orb-weaver genus Gasteracantha.

<i>Gasteracantha mengei</i> Species of arachnid

Gasteracantha mengei is a species of spider in the spiny orb-weaver genus Gasteracantha. Its range includes Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo, and Sumatra in Indonesia.

<i>Gasteracantha quadrispinosa</i> Species of arachnid

Gasteracantha quadrispinosa, the four-spined jewel spider, is a brightly coloured species of spider in the spiny orb-weaver genus Gasteracantha. It occurs in wet forests of Queensland, Australia, and New Guinea, where it builds vertical orb webs approximately 1.5 m across and hangs in the centre of the web to wait for prey.

<i>Gasteracantha westringi</i> Species of spider

Gasteracantha westringi is a species of spiny orb-weaver spider in the genus Gasteracantha. It is found in Australasia, including New Caledonia and Norfolk Island, and it has a wing-shaped abdomen armed with red and black spines.

<i>Gasteracantha gambeyi</i> Species of spider

Gasteracantha gambeyi is a species of spiny orb-weaver spider in the genus Gasteracantha. It was described from New Caledonia.

Gasteracantha flava is a species of spider described in 1849 from Chile. The spider's abdomen bears 14 spines and is yellow in color with brown or black sigilla and a strongly wrinkled ventral side. The World Spider Catalog currently treats this taxon as a spiny orb-weaver spider in the genus Gasteracantha. In 1849, H. Nicolet included it in the genus Gasteracantha along with 18 other species he described from Chile. Nicolet described G. flava as being closely allied to another species described at the same time, Gasteracantha spissa, which had the same number and shape of spines and was very similar. Subsequent authors refined Nicolet's species, and in a 1996 publication Herbert Levi wrote, "All Nicolet's species seem to belong in Phoroncidia (Theridiidae)." Levi transferred the 14-spined taxon spissa, described by Nicolet as very similar to G. flava, to the genus Phoroncidia, creating the new combination Phoroncidia spissa. However, Levi did not explicitly address G. flava, so it remains in Gasteracantha as of November 2019, though its purported sister species now belongs to Phoroncidia and no other Gasteracantha species has more than six spines.

<i>Gasteracantha interrupta</i> Species of spider

Gasteracantha interrupta is a species of spiny orb-weaver spider in the genus Gasteracantha. It is black and white in color, and it occurs in the Lesser Sundas and Sulawesi in Indonesia.

<i>Gasteracantha recurva</i> Species of spider

Gasteracantha recurva is a species of spiny orb-weaver spider in the genus Gasteracantha. It was described from Manila, Philippines in 1877.

<i>Gasteracantha hecata</i> Species of arachnid

Gasteracantha hecata is a species of spider in the spiny orb-weaver genus Gasteracantha. It occurs in the Philippines and has prominent horn-like spines on its abdomen.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Gasteracantha diardi". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Dahl, F. (1914). "Die Gasteracanthen des Berliner Zoologischen Museums und deren geographische Verbreitung" (pdf). Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin. 7: 285–287. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  3. Lucas, H. (1835). "Epeira". Dictionnaire Pittoresque d'Histoire Naturelle et des Phénomènes de la Nature. 3: 70.
  4. Bay, Nicky (2017-06-12). "Spiny orb weaver (Gasteracantha sp.) - DSC_5135". Flickr. Retrieved 13 July 2019.