Argiope appensa

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iArgiope appensa

A. appensa on Hawai'i

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Suborder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Argiope
Species:	A. appensa

Binomial name

Argiope appensa
(Walckenaer, 1842)

Synonyms

Epeira appensa
E. crenulata
A. chrysorrhoea
A. crenulata
A. boetonica
Coganargiope reticulata
A. schoenigi

Argiope appensa is a spider that occurs on several islands in the Western Pacific Ocean. It has been introduced to Hawai'i, and is found on Taiwan and New Guinea. It inhabits a wide variety of habitats, from coasts to forests.

[edit] Description

Mature female (ventral view) and male (dorsal) A. appensa

Females reach a body length of up to 7cm and are strikingly black and yellow, while the brown males reach only about 2cm. [1]

On Guam, where A. appensa is ubiquitous, it is frequently visited by Argyrodes argentatus. Locals there refer to A. appensa as banana spiders. Following the introduction of the brown tree snake and the subsequent extinction or near-extinction of many of the island's small birds, spider populations on Guam exploded decreasing predation and competition. A. appensa is almost certainly one of the large species which were encountered there in vast numbers, much to his horror, by nature writer David Quammen (who is extremely arachnophobic) during his trip doing background research for the book The Song of the Dodo, as he vividly recalls therein.

[edit] References

Walckenaer, C.A. (1842). Histoire naturelle des Insects. Aptères. Paris, 2: 1-549.
Kerr, A.M. (2005). Behavior of web-invading spiders Argyrodes argentatus (Theridiidae) in Argiope appensa (Araneidae) host webs in Guam. Journal of Arachnology 33(1): Abstract PDF
Kerr, A. M. 1993. Unusually low frequency of stabilimenta in webs of Argiope appensa (Araneae: Araneidae) from the Mariana Islands: an indirect effect of an introduced avian predator? Pacific Science 47: 328-337. Abstract