''Neoscona byzanthina'' is an

orb-weaver spider Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name ...

.Platnick N. I
World Spider Catalog 13.5
American Museum of Natural History.

Distribution and habitat

This species occurs in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, southern

European Russia European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

.Fauna Europaea
These spiders mainly occur on low bushes and herbs.

Description

''Neoscona byzanthina'' can reach a body length of about in males, of about in females. Cephalothorax (

prosoma The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

) is yellowish or light beige, covered with fine white hairs and with a dark brown longitudinal median stripe and two lateral stripes. The

opisthosoma The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma (cephalothorax). It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs and others). Although it is similar in most respects to a ...

is brown and the dorsal design is rather variable. Usually it shows discontinuous brown bands with white markings bordered with brown lines. The hook of the

epigyne The epigyne or epigynum is the external genital structure of female spiders. As the epigyne varies greatly in form in different species, even in closely related ones, it often provides the most distinctive characteristic for recognizing species. ...

is elongated and rounded. Legs are pale brown or yellowish and very darkly ringed. In particular, the apical ends of the femurs are quite dark. Mora-Rubio C, Morano E, Pérez-Bote J L (2019
First record of Neoscona byzanthina (Pavesi, 1876) (Araneae, Araneidae) from the Iberian Peninsula
Graellsia 75(e092): 1-3 This species is very similar to ''

Neoscona adianta ''Neoscona adianta'' is a species of spider belonging to the family Araneidae. It occurs in North Africa and Europe to Central Asia. The coloration includes a brown to red abdomen marked with a series of black-bordered white or cream triangles. ...

'', but the size of ''Neoscona byzanthina'' individuals and the size of their genitals are rather larger than in ''Neoscona adianta''.

Biology

Adults are more frequent on August and September.

References

*Pavesi, P. (1876b). Gli aracnidi Turchi. Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali 19: 1-27. * Ledoux J-C (2008a) Réhabilitation de Neoscona byzanthina (Pavesi, 1876) espèce voisine de Neoscona adianta (Araneae, Araneidae). Revue arachnol 17: 49-53 * Ledoux, J.-C. & Canard, A. (1981). Initiation à l'étude systématique des araignées. Ledoux, Domazan, 56 pp. * Mora-Rubio C, Morano E, Pérez-Bote J L (2019) First record of Neoscona byzanthina (Pavesi, 1876) (Araneae, Araneidae) from the Iberian Peninsula. Graellsia 75(e092): 1-3 *Simon, E. (1879b). Liste d'arachnides de Constantinople et description d'une espèce nouvelle Epeira turcica. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (5) 9(Bull.): 36-37. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2097203 byzanthina Spiders described in 1876