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Photo#870103
Spined-Micrathena - Micrathena gracilis

Spined-Micrathena - Micrathena gracilis
Santa-Ana NWR, Hildago County, Texas, USA
December 31, 1969
This is only the second Micrathena species I've encountered, and was wondering if it was the spined-micrathena? If so, why are there so many black and white colored spined, and this one shows completely diferent coloring? Thanks
Green Nature

Moved
Moved from Micrathena. Don't know why some are differently colored

 
spined micrathena
your specimen does have a different color pattern too, good find...
since I'm not current with the spider DNA analysis literature, I can't say weather or not anyone has done DNA analysis on species with different color patterns.

It could be that differing color patterns are indeed indicative of species differentiation. OTOH, it could be that the same species has some type of cameleion type of "pheno type that" allows them to adapt to their environment by changing colors...

the color differentiation also applies to the spinybacked family,with the one species being either black and white, or yellow, or a combination of black white and red...