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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynes » Orb Weavers (Araneidae) » Gasteracantha » Crab-like spiny orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis)
Photo#81350
orange crab like spiny orb weaver - Gasteracantha cancriformis
Copyright © 2006 Arlon

orange crab like spiny orb weaver - Gasteracantha cancriformis
Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA
September 18, 2006
I have had a bunch of spiny orb weavers in the yard this year but one of the bunch is a bright orange color. There are at least a dozen others and all of them are a buff to light yellow. The orange one really stands out from all the others. Is this a different spider or just a natural variation from the same brood of buff spiders?
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Contributed by Arlon on 4 October, 2006 - 7:50am
Last updated 4 October, 2006 - 9:30am

A mostly tropical variation, I believe
Florida's Fabulous Spiders(1) says "in South America this species is yellow instead of white, and the spines are black instead of red" - sounds like yours. Nice shot! You can see some of the little tufts it adds to its web, too (supposedly as a warning to birds that it's there).
… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 4 October, 2006 - 9:14am login or register to post comments

 
Figures, with the rest of the
Figures, with the rest of the invasion from South America it's only fitting their spiders should come along too...
… Arlon, 4 October, 2006 - 9:33am login or register to post comments

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