Gasteracantha fornicata

Gasteracantha fornicata
Northern Queensland, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Gasteracantha
Species: G. fornicata
Binomial name
Gasteracantha fornicata
(Fabricius, 1775)
Synonyms

Aranea fornicata
Gasteracantha vittata
Gasteracantha bradleyi

Gasteracantha fornicata (Northern Jewelled Spider) is a type of spiny orb-weaver spider found in Queensland Australia. It is similar in shape to the Austracantha minax which was originally described as Gasteracantha minax.[1] It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775, the first Australian species of spider to be named and classified.[2]

This species is sometimes identified as Gasteracantha vittata (L. Koch, 1871). However, it was later discovered that Fabricius had described the species earlier, and according to taxonomic rules, the earlier name has precedence and is the only one that should be used. Also, there are other species that were identified G. vittata at times, namely G. irradiata (by Thorell, 1859), G. sanguinolenta (by Keyserling, 1877) and G. transversa (as subspecies G. v. longicornis by Strand, 1907), further complicating the issue. Furthermore, there is a taxonomic rule that precedence can be circumvented when the original name has never really been used. So today it is even sometimes called Astracantha vittata.

Gasteracantha fornicata in Daintree

References

  1. ↑ USQ spiders
  2. ↑ Davies, Valerie Todd; et al. (30 Mar 2006). "Order Araneae: Spiders". Australian Faunal Directory. Government of Australia. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
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