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Gasteracantha
Genus of spiders / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Gasteracantha is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first named by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833.[2] Species of the genus are known as spiny-backed orb-weavers, spiny orb-weavers, or spiny spiders. The females of most species are brightly colored with six prominent spines on their broad, hardened, shell-like abdomens. The name Gasteracantha is derived from the Greek gaster (γαστήρ), meaning "belly, abdomen", and akantha (άκανθα), meaning "thorn, spine".[3] Spiny-backed orb-weavers are sometimes colloquially called "crab spiders" because of their shape, but they are not closely related to the true crab spiders.[4] Other colloquial names for certain species include thorn spider,[5] star spider,[6] kite spider, or jewel spider.
Gasteracantha | |
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G. sanguinolenta dorsal side | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
Family: | Araneidae |
Genus: | Gasteracantha Sundevall, 1833[1] |
Type species | |
G. cancriformis (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Members of the genus exhibit strong sexual dimorphism. Females are several times larger than males, which lack prominent spines or bright colors.[4][5][7] Other genera in the same family are also known as spiny orb-weavers.[8]