Cyclosa

Cyclosa
camouflaged C. octotuberculata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Cyclosa
Menge, 1866
Species

C. conica
C. monteverde
C. octotuberculata
C. argenteoalba
 many more

Diversity
165 species

Cyclosa is a spider genus in the family Araneidae. Spiders of the genus Cyclosa build relatively small orb webs with a web decoration. The web decoration in Cyclosa spiders is often linear and includes prey remains and other debris, which probably serve to camouflage the spider. While most orb-web spiders face downwards in their web when waiting for prey, some Cyclosa species (e.g. C. ginnaga and C. argenteoalba) face upwards [1]

Species

Cyclosa tremula

One small species from Guyana described under the nomen dubium C. tremula has a black and white pattern and rests in the center of an orb web with greyish "imitation spiders" it has created from prey remains. If the spider is disturbed, it vibrates its body, so that the black and white patches blur into grey, thus resembling the false spiders.[2]

Cyclosa argenteoalba

C. argenteoalba builds two types of web, a traditional sticky spider web, and a resting web that consists of just a few strands. When infected with a larva of the wasp Reclinervellus nielseni, the spider switches on the behavior to build a resting web. The larva then eats the spider and uses the web to complete metamorphosis.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Nakata, Kensuke; Zschokke, Samuel (2010). "Upside-down spiders build upside-down orb webs: web asymmetry, spider orientation and running speed in Cyclosa" (PDF). Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Royal Society) 277 (1696): 3019–3025. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.0729.
  2. ↑ Oxford, G.S. & Gillespie, R.G. (1998). Evolution and Ecology of Spider Coloration. Annual Review of Entomology 43:619-643. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.43.1.619 PMID 15012400
  3. ↑ Arielle Duhaime-Ross (August 6, 2015). "Zombie spider builds a stronger web for the parasitic wasp that's sucking its blood". The Verge. Retrieved 2015-09-14.
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