''Gasteracantha cancriformis'' (spinybacked orbweaver) is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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

(family Araneidae). It is widely distributed in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

. The genus name ''Gasteracantha'' derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

words (', "belly") and (', "thorn"), while the specific epithet ''cancriformis'' derives from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

words ' (" crab") and ' ("shape, form, appearance").

Description

Females are long and wide. The six abdominal spine-like projections on the abdomen are characteristic. The carapace,

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ca ...

s, and underside are black with white spots under the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...

. Variations occur in the colour of the upperside of the abdomen - a white or yellow colour with both featuring black spots. A white upper side can have either red or black spines while a yellow upperbside can only have black ones. Like with many other spiders, males are much smaller (2 to 3 mm long) and longer than wide. All morphs have six abdominal spines. They are similar to the females in colour, but have a gray abdomen with white spots and the spines are reduced to four or five stubby projections. This species of

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

does not live very long. In fact, the lifespan lasts only until reproduction, which usually takes place in the spring following the winter when they hatched. Females die after producing an egg mass, and males die six days after a complete cycle of sperm induction to the female.

Distribution and habitat

''G. cancriformis'' is native to North America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. It has been introduced elsewhere, including Hawaii. It prefers living around the edge of woodland and shrubby gardens. Many studies about ''G. cancriformis'' are performed in citrus groves in Florida. ''G. cancriformis'' is seen to coexist within and on the edges of the colonies of other colonial orb-weaver spiders, mainly ''

Metepeira incrassata ''Metepeira incrassata'', also known as the colonial orb-weaving spider, belongs to the spider family Araneidae and genus Metepeira. They are most famous for their social organization and group living behavior. They are generally found in tropi ...

''. ''M. incrassata'' is known to form large colonies ranging from few hundreds to few thousands of spiders, and their colonies often accommodate other species of orb-weavers including ''G. cancriformis''.

Taxonomy

''G. cancriformis'' has two subspecies, ''G. c. cancriformis'' and ''G. c. gertschi''.

Gallery

File:Close Up Of Spiny Orb Weaver Spider Eating a Butterfly.jpg, Eating a butterfly File:Gasteracantha cancriformis ventral.png, Ventral view, with

spinneret A spinneret is a silk-spinning organ of a spider or the larva of an insect. Some adult insects also have spinnerets, such as those borne on the forelegs of Embioptera. Spinnerets are usually on the underside of a spider's opisthosoma, and a ...

visible File:Gasteracantha cancriformis in Miami.jpg, In

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

File:Gasteracantha cancriformis Miami.jpg, In Miami Lakes File:Gasteracantha cancriformis Quito, Ecuador.jpg, In

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

File:Gasteracantha cancriformis Novo Hamburgo.png, In

Novo Hamburgo Novo Hamburgo (Portuguese for ''New Hamburg''; german: Neu-Hamburg) is a municipality in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, located in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, the state capital. As of 2020, its population was 247, ...

(southern Brazilian population), with focus on the web File:Gasteracantha cancriformis mating in Summer.webm, Mating in the Summer File:Spiny Orb Weaver on Tufted Web.jpg, On a tufted web in Houston, Texas File:GasteracanthaCancriformisColorContrast.png, Color variation, near

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

File:UndersideOfOrangeGasteracanthaCancriformis.jpg, Underside of orange specimen, showing spinner and thread. For scale, band in background is 6 mm wide. Near

File:Gasteracantha cancriformis-female.jpg, In Molokai,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

File:Gasteracantha cancriformis (Spinybacked orbweaver) - ventral view.jpg, Ventral view, in North Carolina

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q138490 cancriformis Spiders of North America Spiders of South America Spiders described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Articles containing video clips