''Gasteracantha kuhli'' is a species of spiny
orb-weaver spider in the genus ''
Gasteracantha'', widespread from
India to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, the
Philippines, and
Java in
Indonesia.
It is known as the black-and-white spiny spider.
Description
Female black-and-white spiny spiders are 6-9 millimeters wide and possess hard, shiny abdomens armed with six black conical spines. The upper surface of the abdomen is white to yellowish with variable black or dark brown markings and
sigilla. The central part of the abdomen's dorsal surface is usually marked with a dark cross-like shape. From individual to individual and across the species' range, the length of the spines and the details of the coloration vary considerably. Males are much smaller at 3-4 millimeters in size, and in place of spines, they have small bumps on their abdomens.
Behavior
This species builds orb webs in open forests and shrubby areas and waits for prey in the center of the web.[
]
Similar species
''Gasteracantha kuhli'' is replaced by a similar black-and-white species, ''Gasteracantha interrupta
''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.
Description
Female ''Gasteracantha interrupta'' ...
'', on the Lesser Sundas
The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up ...
and Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
.
References
kuhli
Spiders of Asia
Spiders described in 1837
{{Araneidae-stub