Neoscona punctigera

Neoscona punctigera is a widespread species of orb-weaver spider found from Japan to mainland Asia, Australia and several Western Indian Ocean islands.[1]

Neoscona punctigera
Male (above) and female (below) from Okinawa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Neoscona
Species:
N. punctigera
Binomial name
Neoscona punctigera
(Doleschall, 1857)

The female reaches about 1.1 cm (0.43 in) and the male about 0.7 cm (0.28 in).[1] It is well-camouflaged during the day when sitting on bark, but when it hunts during the night it sits in the web and attracts insect prey with its bright, contrasting spots on the underside of the abdomen.[2] N. punctigera builds spiral shaped webs.

This spider and close relatives (for example, N. vigilans) are commonly found in the Philippines, where the females frequently are used for spider fighting.[3]

References
  1. Whyte, R.; G. Anderson (2017). A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia. CSIRO Publishing. p. 75. ISBN 9780643107076.
  2. Chuang, C.-Y.; E.-C. Yang; I.-M. Tso (2008). "Deceptive color signaling in the night: a nocturnal predator attracts prey with visual lures". Behavioral Ecology. 19 (2): 237–244. doi:10.1093/beheco/arm106.
  3. Aguhob, J.; A.L. Dupo; O. Nuñeza (2016). "Spider Wrestling in Zamboanga Peninsula, Mindanao, Philippines". Bull. Env. Pharmacol. Life Sci. 5 (2): 11–19.
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