Spiny orb-weaver

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Spiny orb-weaver
Spiny backed orbweaver spider.jpg
G. cancriformis
Hasselt's spiny spider, gasteracantha hasselti - Kaeng Krachan National Park.jpg
G. hasselti
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Gasteracantha
Sundevall, 1833[1]
Type species
G. cancriformis
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[1]
  • Bunocrania Thorell, 1878
  • Paurotylus Tullgren, 1910

Gasteracantha (known as spiny-backed orb-weavers, spiny orb-weavers, or spiny spiders) is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first named by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833.[2] 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".[3] 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.[4] Other colloquial names for certain species include thorn spider,[5] star spider,[6] kite spider, or jewel spider.

Members of the genus exhibit strong sexual dimorphism. Males are several times smaller than females, and they lack prominent spines or bright colors.[4][5][7]

Gasteracantha is distributed worldwide in tropical and subtropical climates. The genus is most diverse in tropical Asia, from India through Indonesia.[1] One species, G. cancriformis, occurs in the Americas.[4] Gasteracantha species are related to spine-bearing orb-weavers in several other genera (see Taxonomy and Systematics).[8]

Orb-weavers' bites are generally harmless to humans.[9]

Taxonomy and systematics[]

Gasteracantha has a complex taxonomic history, and many questions of species limits and distribution and generic interrelationships remain unanswered. Furthermore, challenges include the variability within individual Gasteracantha species (e.g., color polymorphism and variable length and shape of spines), a lack of male specimens and descriptions for many species, missing or damaged type specimens, and ambiguous initial descriptions in 18th- and 19th-century scientific literature.[10] The 70 species currently recognized by World Spider Catalog include dozens of synonyms and subspecies, many based on literature well over 100 years old.[1]

Gasteracantha is related to several other spiny orb-weaver genera of Africa, Asia, and Australasia, many of which are monospecific:[8][10][11]

A 2019 study examining three mitochondrial and two nuclear genes found that Gasteracantha is paraphyletic with respect to Macracantha, Actinacantha, and Thelacantha. M. arcuata is allied with G. hasselti and A. globulata, while T. brevispina is closer to G. kuhli and G. diardi. The authors, however, did not propose generic reassignments based on their findings.[10]

Micrathena orb-weavers in North and South America also have hardened abdomens with variously shaped spines, but they are not closely related to Gasteracantha within the orb-weaver family.[8]

Gallery[]

  • G. geminata in Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bangalore, India

  • in Karnataka, India

  • G. quadrispinosa in Queensland, Australia

  • G. falcicornis in Mecúfi District, Mozambique

  • in Mhlopeni Nature Reserve, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

Species[]

As of August 2019 Gasteracantha contains 70 species and 33 subspecies:[1]

  • (Pocock, 1899) – Papua New Guinea (New Britain)
  • Dahl, 1914 – Indonesia (Sulawesi)
  • Guérin, 1838 – Indonesia (Sumatra, Timor, Ambon), Philippines
  • Mi & Peng, 2013 – China
  • Thorell, 1877 – Indonesia (Sulawesi)
  • (Thorell, 1878) – Indonesia (Moluccas, Ambon)
  • G. cancriformis (Linnaeus, 1758) – North America, Central America, Caribbean, South America. Introduced to Hawaii
  • Emerit, 1974 – Seychelles
  • G. clavatrix (Walckenaer, 1841) – Indonesia (Lombok, Sulawesi, Mentawai Is.)
  • G. clavigera Giebel, 1863 – Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia (Sulawesi)
  • Bradley, 1877 – Malaysia, Indonesia (Java, Borneo), New Guinea
  • (Guérin, 1837) – West, Central Africa
  • Dahl, 1914 – Indonesia (Togian Is.)
  • C. L. Koch, 1837 – Malaysia, India (Nicobar Is.), Indonesia (Java)
  • Pocock, 1900 – India, Pakistan
  • Thorell, 1887 – India to Philippines
  • G. diardi (Lucas, 1835) – China, Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Indonesia (Sunda Is.)
  • Simon, 1877 – Singapore, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo)
  • G. falcicornis Butler, 1873 – Africa
  • Guérin, 1838 – New Guinea, Guam
  • G. flava Nicolet, 1849 – Chile
  • G. fornicata (Fabricius, 1775) – Australia (Queensland)
  • Blackwall, 1864 – India, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia (Flores, Borneo)
  • G. gambeyi Simon, 1877 – New Caledonia
  • G. geminata (Fabricius, 1798) – India, Sri Lanka
  • G. hasselti C. L. Koch, 1837 – India, China to Indonesia (Moluccas)
  • G. hecata (Walckenaer, 1841) – Philippines
  • G. interrupta Dahl, 1914 – Indonesia (Lombok, Sulawesi)
  • (Walckenaer, 1841) – Thailand to Philippines, Indonesia (Sulawesi)
  • G. janopol Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
  • G. kuhli C. L. Koch, 1837 – India to Japan, Philippines
  • (Guérin, 1825) – Indonesia (Sumatra) to Philippines, New Guinea
  • Guérin, 1838 – Timor, Indonesia (Moluccas), New Caledonia
  • Dahl, 1914 – Indonesia (Sumatra)
  • (Doleschall, 1859) – Indonesia (Java), New Guinea
  • G. mengei Keyserling, 1864 – Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo)
  • (Pocock, 1898) – Solomon Is.
  • Butler, 1873 – Central, East, Southern Africa
  • Kulczyński, 1910 – Papua New Guinea (New Britain)
  • Butler, 1873 – Myanmar to Philippines, Indonesia (Java)
  • Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
  • (Walckenaer, 1841) – Papua New Guinea (New Ireland, New Britain)
    • Strand, 1915 – Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.)
  • (Thorell, 1892) – Singapore
  • G. quadrispinosa O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1879 – New Guinea, Australia (Queensland)
  • G. recurva Simon, 1877 – Philippines
  • Butler, 1873 – Vanuatu
  • G. remifera Butler, 1873 – India, Sri Lanka
  • Guérin, 1838 – Mauritius
    • Strand, 1916 – Comoros, Mayotte
    • Vinson, 1863 – Madagascar
  • Guérin, 1838 – Indonesia (Lombok, Sulawesi, Moluccas), New Caledonia, Guam
  • Simon, 1881 – Madagascar
  • L. Koch, 1872 – New Guinea, Australia (Queensland), New Caledonia
  • Dahl, 1914 – Philippines
  • C. L. Koch, 1844 – Africa, Yemen (mainland, Socotra), Seychelles
    • Emerit, 1974 – Madagascar
    • Emerit, 1974 – Madagascar
    • Roberts, 1983 – Seychelles (Aldabra)
    • Emerit, 1974 – Seychelles
    • Emerit, 1974 – Europa Is.
    • Emerit, 1974 – Madagascar
    • Strand, 1916 – Egypt
  • Dahl, 1914 – New Guinea
  • Dahl, 1914 – China, Taiwan, Vietnam
  • Butler, 1873 – Solomon Is.
  • Pocock, 1898 – Solomon Is.
    • Strand, 1911 – Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.)
    • Strand, 1915 – Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.)
    • Strand, 1911 – Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.)
  • O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1879 – Central Africa
  • Butler, 1873 – India
  • G. sturi (Doleschall, 1857) – Laos, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Moluccas
  • Dahl, 1914 – Borneo, New Guinea
  • (Walckenaer, 1841) – India to Polynesia
    • Strand, 1911 – New Guinea
    • Strand, 1911 – Papua New Guinea (New Ireland)
    • Strand, 1915 – New Guinea
    • Strand, 1915 – New Guinea
    • Simon, 1898 – Solomon Is.
    • Strand, 1911 – Indonesia (Aru Is.)
    • Dahl, 1914 – Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.)
    • Strand, 1915 – Indonesia
    • Strand, 1915 – New Guinea
    • Strand, 1915 – New Guinea
    • Strand, 1911 – Papua New Guinea (New Ireland)
    • Strand, 1911 – Papua New Guinea (New Ireland)
  • Guérin, 1838 – New Guinea, Indonesia (Moluccas)
    • Strand, 1911 – Indonesia (Aru Is.)
    • Strand, 1911 – Indonesia (Kei Is.)
    • Strand, 1911 – Indonesia
  • Archer, 1951 – São Tomé and Príncipe
  • Keyserling, 1864 – Madagascar
  • Pocock, 1897 – Indonesia (Sulawesi)
  • C. L. Koch, 1837 – Indonesia (Sumatra, Java)
  • Simon, 1889 – China, India
  • G. versicolor (Walckenaer, 1841) – Central, East, Southern Africa
  • G. westringi Keyserling, 1864 – Australia, Admiralty Is., New Caledonia

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Gen. Gasteracantha Sundevall, 1833". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
  2. ^ Sundevall, C. J. (1833). Conspectus Arachnidum. Lund, Sweden. p. 14.
  3. ^ "Genus Gasteracantha". BugGuide. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Species Gasteracantha cancriformis - Spinybacked Orbweaver". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Williams, Steven. "Spiky Spiders". More than a Dodo. Oxford Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  6. ^ Horwell, David; Oxford, Pete (August 2005). Galápagos Wildlife (2 ed.). Chalfont St Peter, Bucks SL9 9QE, England: Bradt Travel Guides Ltd. p. 26. ISBN 9781841621005.CS1 maint: location (link)
  7. ^ Sankaran, Pradeep M.; Jobi, Malamel J.; Sebastian, Pothalil A. (February 2015). "Redescription of the orb-weaving spider Gasteracantha geminata (Fabricius, 1798) (Araneae, Araneidae)". Zootaxa. 3915 (1): 147–150. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3915.1.10. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c Scharff, Nikolaj; Coddington, Jonathan A.; Blackledge, Todd A.; Agnarsson, Ingi; Framenau, Volker W.; Szűts, Tamás; Hayashi, Cheryl Y.; Dimitrov, Dimitar (23 April 2019). "Phylogeny of the orb‐weaving spider family Araneidae (Araneae: Araneoidea)". Cladistics. doi:10.1111/cla.12382. hdl:1956/22200.
  9. ^ "Urban Spider Chart".
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c Tan, Ji; Chan, Zi Yang; Ong, Ching Ang; Yong, Hoi Sen (14 February 2019). "Phylogenetic relationships of Actinacantha Simon, Gasteracantha Sundevall, Macracantha Hasselt and Thelacantha Simon spiny orb-weavers (Araneae: Araneidae) in Peninsular Malaysia" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 67: 32–55. doi:10.26107/RBZ-2019-0003. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  11. ^ Pickard-Cambridge, O. (1897). "On some new and little-known spiders (Araneidae)". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 64 (4, for 1896): 1006–1012. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1896.tb03096.x.

External links[]

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