Subject: Spider
Location: Rio Negro River in Brazil
November 13, 2012 9:34 pm
Can you tell me a little about this spider? Can’t seem to find any info on it. Thank you
Signature: Sincerely
All we can say is WOW, that is a beautiful spider. This is one of the Orbweavers in the family Araneidae, and it is most likely one of the Spiny Orbweavers from several genera that are already represented on our site. It might also be a different genus. Some Orbweavers get quite large, with a leg span close to that of a human hand, though most of the Spiny Orbweavers are smaller. We wish you provided some size information. When we have time, we will attempt a species or genus identification. Perhaps while we are at work, one of our loyal readers will be able to come up with some helpful information.
Daniel, thanks for getting back to me. The Spider wasn’t so big, a little bigger than a 25 cent piece.
KB
Karl digs up another identification!!!
Hi Daniel and Sincerely:
Not only is this a gorgeous spider, it is also a rare find. It is an orbweaver (Aranaeidae), specifically a female Rubrepeira rubronigra. It appears to be distributed widely throughout northern South America, but is rarely photographed and poorly documented. The definitive paper on the species is by Herbert W. Levi and it makes a very interesting read. You can access the paper by following this link and then clicking on ‘Full-text PDF’. The genus Rubrepeira is a new one and it only has the one species. As far as I can tell the male of the species has not yet been described or even discovered, and there is speculation that the males are dwarfed. Excellent post! Regards. Karl
p.s. Daniel, the second link doesn’t always work on my computer for some reason. If it gives you problems you could try finding it yourself (it shows up numerous times on Google). The reference is: Herbert W. Levi. The American species of the orb-weaver genus Carepalxis and the new genus Rubrepeira (Araneae: Araneidae). Psyche 98:251-264, 1991.
Thank Karl,
We downloaded the pdf.rubrepeira_026493