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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Chelicerates (Chelicerata) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynae » Orb Weavers (Araneidae) » Gasteracantha » Spinybacked Orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis)
Photo#1485685
Possibly Male Gasteracantha cancriformis - Gasteracantha cancriformis
Copyright © 2018 Susan Leach Snyder

Possibly Male Gasteracantha cancriformis - Gasteracantha cancriformis
Naples , Collier County, Florida, USA
December 4, 2017
Size: 2 mm

Images of this individual: tag all
Possibly Male Gasteracantha cancriformis - Gasteracantha cancriformis Possibly Male Gasteracantha cancriformis - Gasteracantha cancriformis Possibly Male Gasteracantha cancriformis - Gasteracantha cancriformis Possibly Male Gasteracantha cancriformis - Gasteracantha cancriformis
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Contributed by Susan Leach Snyder on 20 January, 2018 - 9:49am
Last updated 3 May, 2023 - 7:26am

Moved
Moved from Gasteracantha.
… Jeff Hollenbeck, 22 January, 2018 - 10:22am login or register to post comments

Males
are usually mature @2mm, although I did find a subadult male with a 2-3 mm body length once that would have made for an impressive adult size.
Coloration and palps suggest female. Males are primarily dark colored. I posted some images of males in the first few pages (oldest) of the species as examples.
… Jeff Hollenbeck, 22 January, 2018 - 10:21am login or register to post comments

 
So,
is this a subadult female?
… Susan Leach Snyder, 26 January, 2018 - 2:48pm login or register to post comments

 
An
early instar (stage between molts) female most likely.
The female cancriformis molt many more times than males prior to maturity and therefore are much larger as adults.

This size variation prevents possible inbreeding amongst spiders from the same brood, and is not uncommon among orb weavers and other spiders. Check out Argiope, Nephila, and Mastophora as an extreme example. I think Mastophora males are adults as second instars when they leave the egg sac.
… Jeff Hollenbeck, 28 January, 2018 - 4:33am login or register to post comments

 
Thanks so
much for this information. I had no idea.
… Susan Leach Snyder, 28 January, 2018 - 12:41pm login or register to post comments

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