Leucauge argyra

Leucauge argyra is a spider and is known for being the host of the Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga, a Costa Rican or Puerto Rican parasitoid wasp.[1] It is found in Asia, United States and Brazil. Leucauge argyra (and many other Leucauge spp.) is known to be a colonial species, with spiders maintaining individual territories/orb webs within a scaffolding of shared support lines maintained by the group. Colonies of multi-generational individuals are often seen with some levels of size stratification (where larger individuals/adults occupy the highest web positions and smaller individuals/juveniles occupy lower web positions).[2]

Leucauge argyra
Leucauge argyra in Jamaica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Tetragnathidae
Genus: Leucauge
Species:
L. argyra
Binomial name
Leucauge argyra
(Walckenaer, 1842)
Synonyms
  • Tetragnatha argyra Walckenaer, 1842
  • Linyphia aurulenta C.L. Koch, 1845
  • Linyphia ornata Taczanowski, 1874
  • Meta argyra
  • Argyroepeira argyra
  • Argyroepeira aurulenta
  • Plesiometa argyra
  • Leucauge aurulenta

Description

Leucage argyra has three lines on the abdomen that run parallel only about halfway across the abdomen, where the outer two bend inward before continuing parallel again through the rest of the abdomen. These markings can be somewhat variable, and different from L. venusta, where the abdomen has inverted V-markings.[3]

The web of juveniles has an upper tangle with threads connecting it to the hub and occasionally another tangle below the orb web, but these tangles are absent in webs of adults. The upper tangle consists of a few threads that cover only a narrow section across the middle of the orb.[4]

A similar species to L. argyra is Leucauge mariana.

  • L. argyra in web

References
  1. Eberhard, W. (2001) Under the influence: Webs and building behavior of Plesiometa argyra (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) when parasitized by Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae). The Journal of Arachnology 29:354–366.
  2. http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v38_n3/arac-38-03-446.pdf
  3. Walckenaer, C.A. (1842) Histoire naturelle des Insects. Aptères. Paris, 2:1-549.
  4. Barrantes, G., Cuyckens E. (2011) Function of the upper tangle in webs of young Leucauge argyra (Araneae: Tetragnathidae). American Arachnological Society.
  • Platnick, Norman I. (2009): The world spider catalog, version 9.5. American Museum of Natural History.


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