Gasteracantha

Female Westring's spiny spider Gasteracantha westringii, copyright Jon Clarke.

Belongs within: Gasteracanthinae.

Gasteracantha, the spiny orb-web spiders, is a pantropical genus of medium-sized spiders with broad, often strikingly patterned, abdomens bearing distinct spikes. For instance, the widespread New World species G. cancriformis has six red or black spines radiating from the abdomen which is white or yellow spotted with black.

Gasteracantha Sundevall 1833 T94
    |--G. (Gasteracantha) R13
    |    |--*G. (G.) cancriformis (Linnaeus 1767) SC97 (see below for synonymy)
    |    |--G. (G.) albiventer KK90
    |    |--G. (G.) fragispina Koch & Keyserling 1886 KK90
    |    |--G. (G.) hebridisia KK90
    |    |--G. (G.) metallica Poc. 1898 R13
    |    |--G. (G.) mollusca KK90
    |    |--G. (G.) scintillans Butl. 1873 [incl. G. scintillans var. concolor Rainbow 1913] R13
    |    |--G. (G.) signifer Poc. 1898 R13
    |    |--G. (G.) simoni Koch & Keyserling 1886 KK90
    |    |--G. (G.) taeniata KK90
    |    |--G. (G.) violenta KK90
    |    `--G. (G.) westringii KK90
    |--G. (Actinacantha) KK90
    |    |--G. (A.) hepatica KK90
    |    `--G. (A.) regalis KK90
    |--G. (Callocantha) geminata (F. 1798) [=Aranea geminata; incl. G. rimata Cambr. 1879] K92
    |--G. (Isacantha) KK90
    |    |--G. (I.) canningensis Stoliczka 1869 [=Gastracantha (I.) canningensis] S69
    |    |--G. (I.) flavomaculata KK90
    |    |--G. (I.) lugubris KK90
    |    |--G. (I.) minax KK90
    |    |--G. (I.) praetextata KK90
    |    `--G. (I.) sacerdotalis KK90
    `--G. (Stanneoclavis) KK90
         |--G. (S.) pentagona KK90
         |--G. (S.) suminata KK90
         `--G. (S.) variegata KK90

Gasteracantha incertae sedis:
  G. acrosomoides H04
  G. arcuata H04
  G. brevispina (Doleschall 1857) [=Plectana brevispina] K92
  G. canestrinii Cambr. 1879 C01
  G. curvispina E95
  G. cuspidata Koch 1837 [=Plectana cuspidata] T94
  G. dalyi (Pocock 1900) HU08
  G. doriae Simon 1877 [incl. G. kulczynskii Strand 1906] J98
  G. falcicornis Butler 1873 SC97
  G. fornicata (Fabr. 1781) [=Aranea fornicata] T94
  G. hasselti Koch 1837 AM11
  G. helva S69
  G. insulana C01
  G. kochii Butler 1873 C01
  G. kuhli Koch 1837 AM11
  G. lata C01
  G. leucomelaena (Doleschall 1859) [=Plectana leucomelas; incl. G. annamita Sim. 1886] T94
  G. mammosa C01
  G. marsdeni J98
    |--G. m. marsdeni J98
    `--G. m. punctisternis Strand 1906 J98
  G. milvoides Butler 1873 SC97
  G. quinqueserrata C01
  G. servillii C01
  G. sexserrata C01
  G. tetracantha [=Aranea tetracantha; incl. G. pallida, G. preciosa, G. quadridens] C01
  G. theisi E95
  G. triserrata C01
  G. versicolor E95

*Gasteracantha (Gasteracantha) cancriformis (Linnaeus 1767) SC97 [=Aranea cancriformis C01, Plectana cancriformis C01; incl. Gasteracantha atlantica C01, G. callida C01, Epeira cancer C01, G. conchata C01, Plectana ellipsoides C01, Aranea hexacantha C01, Gasteracantha picea C01, G. rubiginosa C01, G. velitaris C01, G. vittata Thorell 1860 C01, T94]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[AM11] Araujo, D., V. F. Mattos, A. M. Giroti, M. G. Kraeski, L. S. Carvalho & A. D. Brescovit. 2011. Cytogenetical characterization of six orb-weaver species and review of cytogenetical data for Araneidae. Journal of Arachnology 39 (2): 337–344.

[C01] Cambridge, F. O. P. 1901. On a collection of spiders from the Bahama Islands, made by J. L. Bonhote, Esq.; with characters of a new genus and species of Mygalomorphae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 7: 322–332.

[E95] Elgar, M. A. 1995. The duration of copulation in spiders: comparative patterns. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 52: 1–11.

[H04] Haeckel, E. 1899–1904. Kunstformen der Natur. Bibliographisches Institut: Leipzig und Wien.

[HU08] Hore, U., & V. P. Uniyal. 2008. Diversity and composition of spider assemblages in five vegetation types of the Terai Conservation Area, India. Journal of Arachnology 36 (2): 251–258.

[J98] Jäger, P. 1998. Das Typenmaterial der Spinnentiere (Arachnida: Acari, Amblypygi, Araneae, Opiliones, Pseudoscorpiones, Scorpiones, Uropygi) aus dem Museum Wiesbaden. Jahrbuecher des Nassauischen Vereins fuer Naturkunde 119: 81–91.

[K92] Karsch, F. 1892. Arachniden von Ceylon und von Minikoy gesammelt von den Herren Doctoren P. und F. Sarasin. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift 36 (2): 267–310.

[KK90] Koch, L., & E. Keyserling. 1884–1890. Die Arachniden Australiens nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet vol. 2. Bauer & Raspe: Nürnberg.

[R13] Rainbow, W. J. 1913. Arachnida from the Solomon Islands. Records of the Australian Museum 10 (1): 1–16.

[SC97] Scharff, N., & J. A. Coddington. 1997. A phylogenetic analysis of the orb-weaving spider family Araneidae (Arachnida, Araneae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 120: 355–434.

[S69] Stoliczka, F. 1869. Contribution to the knowledge of Indian Arachnoidea. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 38 pt 2 (4): 201–251, pls 18–20.

[T94] Thorell, T. 1894. Förteckning öfver Arachnider från Java och närgränsande öar, insamlade af docenten D:r Carl Aurivillius; jemte beskrifingar å några sydasiatiska och sydamerikanska Spindlar. Bihang till K. Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar 20 pt. 4 (4): 1–63.

Last updated: 22 September 2019.