Argiope aemula

Argiope aemula, commonly known as Oval St Andrew's Cross Spider, is a species of spider in the family Araneidae, found from India, Sri Lanka to the Philippines, in Sulawesi and in the New Hebrides.[1] It is one of the species of giant conspicuous "signature spiders" of the genus Argiope, seen in tropical and subtropical grasslands.

Oval St Andrew's Cross Spider
Female (dorsal side)
Male (dorsal) and female (ventral)
Bali, Indonesia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Argiope
Species:
A. aemula
Binomial name
Argiope aemula

Description

Female is larger than male. Female 25-30 mm, Male 5-8 mm. Cephalothorax brownish with white pubescence. Posterior median eyes are encircled in black. Sternum heart shaped. A narrow elongation found at distal end of sternum. Abdomen yellowish with black stripes. Abdomen oval shaped and truncated anteriorly. Ventrum brownish with yellow parallel lines.[2]

Ecology

Signature spiders get their name from the zigzag design embossed on the web, the stabilimentum, that is believed to serve a camouflage function. They show extreme sexual dimorphism and males are only 10% of the female in size and as a result become victims of sexual cannibalism. If the males survive the first copulation, then they almost always die during the second attempt.[3] However, further studies have shown that male invariably dies after second copulation as a form of programmed suicide.[4]

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References
  1. "Taxon details Argiope aemula (Walckenaer, 1841)", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2016-05-07
  2. "Argiope aemula description". India Biodiversity Portal. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  3. Sasaki, Takeshi; Iwahashi, Osamu (1995). "Sexual cannibalism in an orb-weaving spider Argiope aemula". Animal Behaviour. 49 (4): 1119–1121. doi:10.1006/anbe.1995.0140.
  4. Spontaneous male death during copulation in an orb-weaving spider
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