Argiope catenulata
Encyclopedia
Argiope catenulata, also known as the grass cross spider, is a species
of Orb spider ranging from India
to the Philippines
to Papua New Guinea
. Like other species of the same genus
, it builds a web with a zig-zag stabilimentum.
. The female's cephalothorax
is yellow with black eye margins. Its abdomen is oblong with a black and silvery-whitish yellow dorsal pattern. Brown patches of irregular shapes are present from the median of the opisthosoma
(abdomen) to the posterior side. The legs are black with thin white rings.
The male is smaller than the female. It has a brownish red to yellowish brown cephalothorax with black eye margins. Its abdomen is yellowish with a dorsal pattern as in the female. The legs are yellowish brown.
The female spider lays between 600 to 800 eggs in her life span of 2 to 3 months. The eggs of argiope catenulata are contained in a light brown cocoon which hangs on the web.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of Orb spider ranging from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. Like other species of the same genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
, it builds a web with a zig-zag stabilimentum.
Description
Argiope catenulata is a colorful spiderSpider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
. The female's cephalothorax
Cephalothorax
The cephalothorax is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. The word cephalothorax is derived from the Greek words for head and thorax...
is yellow with black eye margins. Its abdomen is oblong with a black and silvery-whitish yellow dorsal pattern. Brown patches of irregular shapes are present from the median of the opisthosoma
Opisthosoma
The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma . It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata...
(abdomen) to the posterior side. The legs are black with thin white rings.
The male is smaller than the female. It has a brownish red to yellowish brown cephalothorax with black eye margins. Its abdomen is yellowish with a dorsal pattern as in the female. The legs are yellowish brown.
Ecology
Argiope catenulata are web builders, the circular webs have zigzag webbing known as white stabilimenta making them sticky. They are common in all rice environments. They are late colonizers of rice fields and are found with their heads hanging down in their webs.The female spider lays between 600 to 800 eggs in her life span of 2 to 3 months. The eggs of argiope catenulata are contained in a light brown cocoon which hangs on the web.