Gasteracantha fornicata

Gasteracantha fornicata (northern jewelled spider) is a species of spiny orb-weavers (family Araneidae) found in Queensland Australia. It is similar in shape to Austracantha minax which was originally described as Gasteracantha minax.[2] It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775, the first Australian species of spider to be named and classified.[3]

Gasteracantha fornicata
In Northern Queensland, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Gasteracantha
Species:
G. fornicata
Binomial name
Gasteracantha fornicata
Synonyms[1]
  • Aranea fornicata Fabricius, 1775
  • Gasteracantha vittata L. Koch, 1871
  • Gasteracantha bradleyi Thorell, 1881

One of the synonyms of the species is Gasteracantha vittata, a name given to it by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1871.[1] 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.

Gasteracantha fornicata in Daintree, Queensland

References
  1. "Taxon details Gasteracantha fornicata Fabricius, 1775", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2016-04-28
  2. "USQ spiders". Archived from the original on 2006-12-31. Retrieved 2006-10-23.
  3. 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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