Argiope

The genus Argiope includes rather large spiders that often have a strikingly coloured abdomen. These spiders are distributed throughout the world. Most countries in tropical or temperate climates host one or more species that are similar in appearance. The etymology of the name is from a Greek name meaning "silver-faced."

Common names


Writing spider in South Carolina
In North America, Argiope aurantia is commonly known as the black and yellow garden spider, zipper spider, corn spider, and writing spider, because of the similarity of the web stabilimenta to writing.

In England, Argiope bruennichi, where it is found only on the southern coast, and in other parts of Europe, including Germany, is also known as the wasp spider. In Australia, Argiope keyserlingi and A. aetherea are known as St. Andrew's Cross spiders, for their habit of resting in the web with legs outstretched in the shape of an X, the cross of St. Andrew. The large white zigzag in the centre of its web is called the stabilimentum or web decoration.

The East Asian species Argiope amoena is known in Japan as kogane-gumo. In the Philippines, they are known as gagambang ekis ("X spider", again due to the stabilementa), and gagambang pari ("priest spider", due to the spider's body resembling a priest's head with a mitre).

Web

The average orb web is practically invisible, and it is easy to blunder into one and end up covered with a sticky web. The very easily visible pattern of banded silk made by Argiope is pure white, and some species make an "X" form, or a zigzag type of web (often with a hollow centre). The spider then aligns one pair of its legs with each of the four lines in the hollow "X", making a complete "X" of white lines with a very eye-catching spider coloured bright yellow on a field of black or variegated red white and yellow stripes forming its centre.

The white patterns are called stabilimentum and reflect UV light. They have been shown to play a role in attracting prey to the web, and possibly to prevent its destruction by large animals. The centres of their large webs are often just under 1 metre above the ground, so they are too low for anything much larger than a rabbit to walk under.

The overtness of the spider and its web thus has been speculated to prevent larger creatures from accidentally destroying the web and possibly crushing the spider underfoot.

Other studies suggest that the stabilimenta may actually lead predators to the spider; species such as A. keyserlingi place their web predominantly in closed, complex habitats such as among sedges.

As Argiope sit in the centre of their web during the day, they have developed several responses to predators, such as dropping off the web, retreating to the periphery of the web, or even rapidly pumping the web in bursts of up to 30 seconds, similar to the motion done by the unrelated Pholcus phalangioides.


On stabilimenta


Silver argiope Argiope argentata, Jamaica

Reproduction

The male spider is much smaller than the female, and unassumingly marked. When it is time to mate, he spins a companion web alongside the female's. After mating, the female lays her eggs, placing her egg sac into the web. The sac contains between 400 and 1400 eggs.

These eggs hatch in autumn, but the spiderlings overwinter in the sac and emerge during the spring. The egg sac is composed of multiple layers of silk and protects its contents from damage; however, many species of insects have been observed to parasitise the egg sacs.

Bite

Like almost all other spiders, Argiope are harmless to humans. As is the case with most garden spiders, they eat insects, and they are capable of consuming prey up to twice their size. A. savigny was even reported to occasionally feed on the small bat Rhynchonycteris naso.

They might bite if grabbed, but other than for defense they do not attack large animals. Their venom is not regarded as a serious medical problem for humans; it often contains a library of polyamine toxins with potential as therapeutic medicinal agents. Notable among these is the argiotoxin ArgTX-636 (A. lobata).

A bite by the black and yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) is comparable to a bee sting with redness and swelling. For a healthy adult, a bite is not considered an issue.

Though they are not aggressive spiders, the very young, elderly, or those with compromised immune systems should exercise caution just as one would around a beehive.

Species

As of May 2016, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species:

Argiope aemula (Walckenaer, 1841) – India to Philippines, Sulawesi, New Hebrides
Argiope aetherea (Walckenaer, 1841) – China to Australia
Argiope aetheroides Yin et al., 1989 – China, Japan
Argiope ahngeri Spassky, 1932 – Central Asia
Argiope amoena L. Koch, 1878 – China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan
Argiope anasuja Thorell, 1887 – Seychelles to India, Pakistan, Maldives
Argiope anomalopalpis Bjørn, 1997 – Congo, South Africa
Argiope appensa (Walckenaer, 1841) – Hawaii, Taiwan to New Guinea
Argiope argentata (Fabricius, 1775) – USA to Chile, Argentina
Argiope aurantia Lucas, 1833 – Canada to Costa Rica
Argiope aurocincta Pocock, 1898 – Central, East, Southern Africa
Argiope australis (Walckenaer, 1805) – Central, East, Southern Africa, Cape Verde Is.
Argiope bivittigera Strand, 1911 – Indonesia
Argiope blanda O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898 – USA to Costa Rica
Argiope boesenbergi Levi, 1983 – China, Korea, Japan
Argiope bougainvilla (Walckenaer, 1847) – New Guinea to Solomon Is.
Argiope bruennichi (Scopoli, 1772) – Palearctic
Argiope brunnescentia Strand, 1911 – New Guinea, Bismarck Arch.
Argiope buehleri Schenkel, 1944 – Timor
Argiope bullocki Rainbow, 1908 – New South Wales
Argiope caesarea Thorell, 1897 – India, Myanmar, China
Argiope caledonia Levi, 1983 – New Caledonia, New Hebrides
Argiope cameloides Zhu & Song, 1994 – China
Argiope catenulata (Doleschall, 1859) – India to Philippines, New Guinea
Argiope chloreis Thorell, 1877 – Laos, Sumatra to New Guinea
Argiope comorica Bjørn, 1997 – Comoro Is.
Argiope coquereli (Vinson, 1863) – Zanzibar, Madagascar
Argiope dang Jäger & Praxaysombath, 2009 – Thailand, Laos
Argiope dietrichae Levi, 1983 – Western Australia, Northern Australia
Argiope doboensis Strand, 1911 – Indonesia, New Guinea
Argiope doleschalli Thorell, 1873 – Indonesia
Argiope ericae Levi, 2004 – Brazil, Argentina
Argiope flavipalpis (Lucas, 1858) – Africa, Yemen
Argiope florida Chamberlin & Ivie, 1944 – USA
Argiope halmaherensis Strand, 1907 – Moluccas to New Guinea
Argiope hinderlichi Jäger, 2012 – Laos
Argiope intricata Simon, 1877 – Philippines
Argiope jinghongensis Yin, Peng & Wang, 1994 – China, Laos, Thailand
Argiope kaingang Corronca & Rodríguez-Artigas, 2015 – Argentina
Argiope katherina Levi, 1983 – Northern Australia
Argiope keyserlingi Karsch, 1878 – Queensland, New South Wales, Lord Howe Is.
Argiope kochi Levi, 1983 – Queensland
Argiope legionis Motta & Levi, 2009 – Brazil
Argiope levii Bjørn, 1997 – Kenya, Tanzania
Argiope lobata (Pallas, 1772) (type species) – Old World
Argiope luzona (Walckenaer, 1841) – Philippines
Argiope macrochoera Thorell, 1891 – Nicobar Is., China
Argiope madang Levi, 1984 – New Guinea
Argiope magnifica L. Koch, 1871 – Queensland to Solomon Is.
Argiope mangal Koh, 1991 – Singapore
Argiope manila Levi, 1983 – Philippines
Argiope mascordi Levi, 1983 – Queensland
Argiope minuta Karsch, 1879 – Bangladesh, East Asia
Argiope modesta Thorell, 1881 – Borneo to Australia
Argiope niasensis Strand, 1907 – Indonesia
Argiope ocula Fox, 1938 – China, Taiwan, Japan
Argiope ocyaloides L. Koch, 1871 – Queensland
Argiope pentagona L. Koch, 1871 – Fiji
Argiope perforata Schenkel, 1963 – China
Argiope picta L. Koch, 1871 – Moluccas to Australia
Argiope pictula Strand, 1911 – Sulawesi
Argiope ponape Levi, 1983 – Caroline Is.
Argiope possoica Merian, 1911 – Sulawesi
Argiope probata Rainbow, 1916 – Queensland
Argiope protensa L. Koch, 1872 – New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand
Argiope pulchella Thorell, 1881 – India to China and Indonesia
Argiope pulchelloides Yin et al., 1989 – China
Argiope radon Levi, 1983 – Northern Australia
Argiope ranomafanensis Bjørn, 1997 – Madagascar
Argiope reinwardti (Doleschall, 1859) – Malaysia to New Guinea
Argiope sapoa Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines
Argiope sector (Forsskål, 1776) – North Africa, Middle East, Cape Verde Is.
Argiope squallica Strand, 1915 – New Guinea
Argiope submaronica Strand, 1916 – Mexico to Bolivia, Brazil
Argiope takum Chrysanthus, 1971 – New Guinea
Argiope tapinolobata Bjørn, 1997 – Senegal, Namibia
Argiope taprobanica Thorell, 1887 – Sri Lanka
Argiope trifasciata (Forsskål, 1775) – Cosmopolitan
Argiope truk Levi, 1983 – Caroline Is.
Argiope versicolor (Doleschall, 1859) – China to Java
Argiope vietnamensis Ono, 2010 – Vietnam

source - Wikipedia
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