Argiope bruennichi, Wasp Spider, by Luís Gaifém
Argiope bruennichi, Wasp Spider, by Luís Gaifém
Argiope bruennichi ♀ (Scopoli, 1772)
Aranha-vespa
Wasp Spider
Marachão, 2018
Found on flickr
I got one of those living on my kumquat tree!
I apologise for the poor quality of the pictures; it was a bit too sunny, and I had to use the zoom (I didn't want to disturb the spider). I'm fairly certain that it's in the genus Argiope, just not quite sure of the species.
Definitly Argiope. What's the geographic location?
Curitiba city. South America, Cfb climate.
The genus is known locally as "signature spiders" (aranha-assinatura), but that's basically any spider doing that anti-bird web pattern. It's yellower than the pic implies, colours look a lot like A. bruennichi, but those side "lobes" are quite different.
Behaviour-wise it's surprisingly chill. It doesn't run away like brown recluses and wolf spiders do, nor threatens you like wandering spiders (all three are native here).
The web is clearly strong enough to slightly bend one of the kumquat's branches.
I also got a pic of the spider having a meal. Perhaps the "web bedroll" around the prey might be useful for ID.
I was able to measure the spider, by taking a pic with a pen in the same plane. Rough dimensions:
- body, length: 15mm
- body, width: 8mm
- backmost leg: 23mm
And due to better lighting I also managed to take a clearer picture:
Sadly the position doesn't let me take an upside view pic. I think that she wants belly rubs.
@tobogganablaze@lemmus.org kindly identified it already (Argiope argentata), so I'm sharing this mostly as fluff.