Trichonephila fenestrata

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Black-legged Golden Orb-Web Spider
Arana de seda de oro (Trichonephila fenestrata), reserva natural Masai Mara, Kenia, 2024-05-19, DD 22.jpg
female T. fenestrata from Kenya
Trichonephila fenestrata 312111209 563475989.jpg
male from South Africa
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Nephilidae
Genus: Trichonephila
Species:
T. fenestrata
Binomial name
Trichonephila fenestrata
(Thorell, 1859) [1]
Synonyms
  • Nephila fenestrataThorell, 1859
  • Nephila pilipes fenestrataStrand, 1907
  • Nephila (Dasynephila) fenestrataDahl, 1912

Trichonephila fenestrata is a southern African species of spider in the family Araneidae. [2] It is commonly known as the black-legged golden orb-web spider. [3]

Contents

Distribution

Trichonephila fenestrata occurs in Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa. [2] In South Africa, it is found in all provinces and occurs in more than 20 protected areas. [3]

Three subspecies are known from different parts of Africa.

Habitat and ecology

The species inhabits altitudes ranging from 0 to 1,795 m above sea level and has been sampled from all biomes except the Desert and Succulent Karoo biomes. [3] Trichonephila fenestrata constructs large, complete golden yellow coloured orb webs between trees and shrubs. [3] The species has also been sampled in citrus and prickly pear orchards. [3]

Males of this species often autotomize their legs as a counter-adaptation to the sexual cannibalism of females. [4]

Description

Conservation

Trichonephila fenestrata is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide range. [3] The species is protected in more than 20 protected areas. [3]

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by Thorell in 1859 as Nephila fenestrata from Caffraria (old name for Eastern Cape). [3] It was transferred to the genus Trichonephila by Kuntner et al. in 2019. [2] The species is known from both sexes. [3]

References

  1. ↑ Thorell, T. (1859). "Nya exotiska Epeirider". Öfversigt af Kongliga Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar. 16: 299.
  2. 1 2 3 "Trichonephila fenestrata (Thorell, 1859)". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N.; Webb, P. (2022). The Araneidae of South Africa. Version 2: part 3 (Ne-U). South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. pp. 59–60. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6326991. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  4. ↑ Neumann, Rainer; Schneider, Jutta M. (2020). "Males sacrifice their legs to pacify aggressive females in a sexually cannibalistic spider". Animal Behaviour. 159. Elsevier BV: 59–67. Bibcode:2020AnBeh.159...59N. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.11.003. ISSN   0003-3472.
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