Neoscona subfusca
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Common Neoscona Orb-Web Spider | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Female | |
 | |
| Male | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Araneidae |
| Genus: | Neoscona |
| Species: | N. subfusca |
| Binomial name | |
| Neoscona subfusca (C. L. Koch, 1837)[1] | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
List of synonyms
| |
Neoscona subfusca is a species of spider in the family Araneidae.[2] It is commonly known as the common Neoscona orb-web spider.[3]
The species name subfusca means "somewhat dark" in Latin.
Distribution
Neoscona subfusca is distributed widely in Africa, Southern Europe, and the near East. In South Africa, the species is very abundant and known from all nine provinces, occurring in more than 40 protected areas at altitudes ranging from 1 to 2,826 m above sea level.[3]
Habitat and ecology
This medium-sized species makes orb-webs in vegetation at night and removes the web early in the morning and rests on plants. The species has been sampled from all the floral biomes. It was also sampled from crops such as avocado, citrus, grapefruit, macadamia, pecan and pistachio orchards, pine plantations, cotton, tomatoes and vineyards. Neoscona subfusca is also associated with the bark of Vachellia xanthophloea trees in Ndumo Game Reserve and Ochna pulchra trees in Nylsvley Nature Reserve.[3]
Description
female
female
male
immature
Neoscona subfusca is known from both sexes. These are medium-sized spiders measuring 4.5-10.5 mm in body length.[3]
