| Argiope 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 |
|
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.
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Females reach a body length of up to 7 cm and are strikingly black and yellow, while the brown males reach only about 2 cm. [1]
In Hawai'i they are referred to as Hawaiian garden spiders'.[1]
On Guam, where Argipoe appensa is ubiquitous, it is frequently visited by Argyrodes argentatus. Locals there refer to them 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 in response to decreasing predation and competition. Nature writer David Quammen has called Argiope appensa "almost certainly one of the larger species" which were encountered in vast numbers during his research trip to Guam for the book The Song of the Dodo.
This species was used in episode "Exposé" of the Lost TV series, which is filmed on location in Hawai'i. It is there named Latrodectus regina (or Medusa Spider), a fictional species of widow spider, in the family Theridiidae. The "males" that run for the female are also females, as the males are much smaller.