Gasteracantha fornicata: taxon details and analytics
- Domain
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Arachnida
- Order
- Araneae
- Family
- Araneidae
- Genus
- Gasteracantha
- Species
- Gasteracantha fornicata
- Scientific Name
- Gasteracantha fornicata
Summary description from Wikipedia:
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. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775, the first Australian species of spider to be named and classified.
One of the synonyms of the species is Gasteracantha vittata, a name given to it by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 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 Gasteracantha irradiata (by Thorell, 1859), Gasteracantha sanguinolenta (by Keyserling, 1877) and Gasteracantha transversa (as subspecies G. v. longicornis by Strand, 1907), further complicating the issue.
G. fornicata is known for its female spiders that have a stark banded pattern along its dorsal side, with yellow or white stripes contrasting its dark-coloured body. It has small yellow or white spots along the ventral side. This spider has been described as a "sit-and-wait" predator, where it waits for small insects to approach its web. Gasteracantha fornicata is known for its circular, "orb-shaped" webs with silk tuft decorations.
...Gasteracantha fornicata in languages:
- English
- Northern Jewelled Spider
Images from inaturalist.org observations:
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Parent Taxon
Sibling Taxa
- Gasteracantha aciculata
- Gasteracantha acutispina
- Gasteracantha audouini
- Gasteracantha aureola
- Gasteracantha beccarii
- Gasteracantha biloba
- Gasteracantha cancriformis
- Gasteracantha clarki
- Gasteracantha clavatrix
- Gasteracantha clavigera
- Gasteracantha crucigera
- Gasteracantha curvispina
- Gasteracantha curvistyla
- Gasteracantha dalyi
- Gasteracantha diadesmia
- Gasteracantha diardi
- Gasteracantha doriae
- Gasteracantha falcicornis
- Gasteracantha fasciata
- Gasteracantha flava
- Gasteracantha fornicata
- Gasteracantha frontata
- Gasteracantha gambeyi
- Gasteracantha geminata
- Gasteracantha hecata
- Gasteracantha interrupta
- Gasteracantha irradiata
- Gasteracantha janopol
- Gasteracantha kuhli
- Gasteracantha lepelletieri
- Gasteracantha lunata
- Gasteracantha martensi
- Gasteracantha mediofusca
- Gasteracantha mengei
- Gasteracantha metallica
- Gasteracantha milvoides
- Gasteracantha notata
- Gasteracantha panisicca
- Gasteracantha parangdiadesmia
- Gasteracantha pentagona
- Gasteracantha picta
- Gasteracantha quadrispinosa
- Gasteracantha recurva
- Gasteracantha regalis
- Gasteracantha remifera
- Gasteracantha rhomboidea
- Gasteracantha rubrospinis
- Gasteracantha rufithorax
- Gasteracantha sacerdotalis
- Gasteracantha sanguinea
- Gasteracantha sanguinolenta
- Gasteracantha sapperi
- Gasteracantha sauteri
- Gasteracantha scintillans
- Gasteracantha signifera
- Gasteracantha simoni
- Gasteracantha sororna
- Gasteracantha sturi
- Gasteracantha subaequispina
- Gasteracantha taeniata
- Gasteracantha theisi
- Gasteracantha thomasinsulae
- Gasteracantha thorelli
- Gasteracantha tondanae
- Gasteracantha transversa
- Gasteracantha unguifera
- Gasteracantha versicolor
- Gasteracantha westringi






























































































































































