Kaira mbywangiae | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
Family: | Araneidae |
Genus: | Kaira |
Species: | K. mbywangiae |
Binomial name | |
Kaira mbywangiae Pett & Pai-Gibson, 2024 | |
Kaira mbywangiae is a species of orb-weaver spider found in Southern Paraguay. [1]
Kaira mbywangiae has very distinct tubercles that can be used to identify the species. It has three areas with humps on the abdomen. Each hump has around 1–4 tubercles. Laterally, there are three folds, each with tubercles. The eyes all have a black ring around them. The carapace is beige with darker spots. The abdomen is beige, brown, and has black patches. [1]
The specific epithet "mbywangiae" is a tribute to Margarita Mbywangi. [1]
Uloboridae is a family of non-venomous spiders, known as cribellate orb weavers or hackled orb weavers. Their lack of venom glands is a secondarily evolved trait. Instead, they wrap their prey thoroughly in silk, cover it in regurgitated digestive enzymes, and then ingest the liquified body.
The spider species Araneus diadematus is commonly called the European garden spider, cross orbweaver, diadem spider, orangie, cross spider, and crowned orb weaver. It is sometimes called the pumpkin spider, although this name is also used for a different species, Araneus marmoreus. It is an orb-weaver spider found in Europe, where it is native, and North America, where it was introduced.
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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.
The barn spider is a common orb-weaver spider native to North America. They are around three-quarters of an inch (20 mm) in length and are usually yellow and brown in color. They often construct their webs in wooden human structures, hence their common name. The species is notable for being the basis for the character Charlotte in the book Charlotte's Web by American writer E. B. White.
Gasteracantha cancriformis is a species of orb-weaver spider. It is widely distributed in the New World.
Kaira, sometimes called frilled orbweavers, is a mostly neotropical genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by O. Pickard-Cambridge in 1889. It includes sixteen described species that occur from South America up to the southern and eastern USA. It is presumably related to Aculepeira, Amazonepeira and Metepeira.
Cyrtophora exanthematica are tent spiders common in tropical Asia and Australia. They are commonly known as double-tailed tent spiders because of the pair of blunt projections at the end of their abdomens. They are harmless to humans.
Araneus mitificus, commonly known as the kidney garden spider or pale orb weaver is a species of orb-weaver spider found in South, East, and Southeast Asia.
Cyrtophora moluccensis is a tent-web spider in the orb-weaver family. It is commonly known as the tent spider or dome-web spider, and is native to India, Japan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Fiji, and Tonga. It is often found in disturbed or open habitats from coasts to forest and mountainous interiors.
Allocyclosa is a genus of orb weaver spiders that contains only one species, Allocyclosa bifurca. It was first described in 1887 by McCook under the name Cyrtophora bifurca, and was transferred to its own genus in 1999. It is the only Cyclosa species north of Mexico to have a forked rear tip of the abdomen hence the name bifurca, Latin for "two-pronged". The forked tip of the abdomen, bearing two humps shaped like the letter M, is a defining feature in both males and females, though it is similar to features present in certain Cyrtophora species. Both sexes are a grey-green color, though only females have an area of red on their underside between the epigynum and the spinnerets. Females are much larger than males, ranging from five to nine millimeters, while males range from two to three millimeters. Males appear to be very uncommon, but they are probably often overlooked by collectors due to their small size. In a 1977 study by Levi, only two of the nearly 350 specimens that were positively identified as Cyrtophora bifurca were males. This is a very unusual distribution; a second, less likely explanation that has been proposed is that females of the species, which have less prominent genitalia compared with those of other members of the orb-weaver family, may be parthenogenic, are able to reproduce without the help of males. Like most other members of Araneidae, these spiders build orb webs, six to eight inches in diameter, but employ an unusual form of protective mimicry. Females often sit in the middle of a vertical row of web decoration that include egg sacs and wrapped prey. Because the spider and the egg sacs have a similar color and shape, it is difficult to distinguish the egg sacs from the spider itself.
Araneus trifolium, the shamrock orbweaver, is a species of orb weaver in the family Araneidae. It is found throughout the USA and in Canada.
The abdomen of Araneus trifolium can have various colors. Most commonly, it is seen in a beige or brown color. Occasionally, the abdomen of the spider has a greenish touch to the brown color or it may even be yellow or orange. In the latter case, Araneus trifolium is sometimes confused with the orange orb weaver species Araneus marmoreus, also called pumpkin spider. The shamrock spider can be distinguished from other orb weaver species by the several white dots on its back. The legs of Araneus trifolium are usually brown or beige colored with several white bands around the joints.
The shamrock spider creates a web to catch its prey. Small flying insects who fly into the web will get stuck in the sticky net. The web of an orb weaver can be up to two feet (60cm) in diameter.
The bite of a shamrock spider can be painful but it is not dangerous for humans with effects comparable to a bee sting.
Gasteracantha gambeyi is a species of spiny orb-weaver spider in the genus Gasteracantha. It was described from New Caledonia.
Zephyrarchaea marki, the Cape Le Grand assassin spider, is a species of spider in the family Archaeidae, commonly known as the assassin spiders. Known only from Cape Le Grand National Park in Western Australia, the species was first described by Michael G. Rix and Mark Harvey in 2012. It is named after Mark Wojcieszek, who helped collect the initial specimens of this species. Z. marki is a small species of spider, with a total length of 2.77–2.79 mm (0.109–0.110 in) in adult males. In adult males, the cephalothorax is dark reddish-brown and the abdomen is mottled grey-brown and beige. The legs are tan brown with darker ring-like markings. The appearance of the female is unknown. The species is known to inhabit elevated leaf litter in a dense coastal thickets of Banksia speciosa. It has not yet been evaluated and assigned a conservation status by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. However, the species is endemic to a very small range and its only known population may be threatened by fire, dieback disease affecting Banksia, and climate change.
Ocrepeira klamt is a species of orb-weaving spider found in the Colombian paramos, named in honour of the German teacher Ulrike Klamt. Due to an armed conflict, the region in which Ocrepeira klamt can be found has been largely inaccessible until recently. Both phenotypic and genotypic studies were used to substantiate the finding that Ocrepeira klamt is a new species of the neotropical orb-weaving spiders. In addition to Ocrepeira klamt, various other neotropical orb-weaving in the genera Ocrepeira spiders have been found in the paramos region. Ocrepeira Marx, Ocrepeira globoas, and Ocrepeira subrufa are various examples of orb-weaving spiders found along with Ocrepeira klamt. Ocrepeira klamt and other orb-weaving spiders can be easily differentiated from the other genera from the shape of the carapace and the anterior humps on the abdomen. In addition, notable morphological characteristics of Ocrepeira include a patterned abdomen, a black abdomen with white spots. Presence of the carapace wide in the eye region, structure of the posterior median eyes, and abdomen physiology, including two anterior humps, confirmed the placement of Ocrepeira klamt into the Ocrepeira genus. Furthermore, unique genitalia structure and the altitude it lives separates it from other species in the genus. As compared to other species in the genus, Ocrepeira klamt was found at the highest elevation of all the Ocrepeira species in the region at 3,650 metres (11,980 ft).
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