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Hawaiian garden spider

Argiope appensa

Photo by mauna Kunzah
Published on Project Noah
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19.7176, -155.112

Field Notes

Description:

This tiny gray spider's body was perhaps 0.5 cm. It was suspended in its web, awaiting prey in an x-position.

Habitat:

This spider constructed a web across an epiphytic skeleton fork fern. It was spotted in a tropical area. A. appensa is not native to Hawaii, although it occurs on several Western Pacific islands.

Notes:

This is probably a male. Brown males may reach only 2 cm in length, while females are more striking in coloration and may reach 7 cm in body length.

Reference Links:

Argiope appensa

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (6)
mauna Kunzah
Let's go with A. appensa. I am still not certain if it's a true match, but there is a resemblance, at least, more so than with A. trifasciata. Thank you, DanielWhitlock.
DanielWhitlock
Not sure about on the islands, but the Argiopes that I've seen here don't always weave the stabilimentum. mauna, I have a comparison shot between adolescent and adult female A. trifasciata on my page... http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/... I would compare yours with adult A. appensa. I'm curious to see what you two come up with.
mauna Kunzah
JohnD, it looks like you read my mind; I was about to say that I didn't notice a zigzag in the web either. I appreciate that you'll try to look into this. Fun! DanielWhitlock, this may be a young female, but I'm not sure. I'll compare my spotting to A. Trifasciata to see, for starters.
DanielWhitlock
I was thinking this was an argiope as well. I'm wondering though, could this simply be a young female? The young A. trifasciata here in Michigan look quite different from the adults, but they often perch in the same position on similar webbing.
mauna Kunzah
Is there usually such pronounced sexual dimorphism in Argiopes? I didn't know.
mauna Kunzah
Alright, JohnD! I was also thinking along those lines, but wasn't sure. Thanks for confirming that. I'll add Argiope sp. to the description. :)

Spotted for Missions

Mission
International Spider Survey
Mission
Yellow 8 MMS - Hawai'i
Mission
Alien Species in Hawaii
Mission
Hawai'i Bioblitz 2013

Tags

Photographed
PublishedMarch 14, 2013

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