Neoscona vigilans
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| Neoscona vigilans | |
|---|---|
 | |
| female from Okinawa | |
 | |
| female from South Africa | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Araneidae |
| Genus: | Neoscona |
| Species: | N. vigilans |
| Binomial name | |
| Neoscona vigilans (Blackwall, 1865) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Neoscona vigilans is a species of orb-weaver spider in the genus Neoscona. It has a very wide distribution across sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and much of Asia from Iran and Pakistan to Japan and New Guinea.[1]
The species was first described by John Blackwall in 1865 as Epeira vigilans from specimens collected along the Shire River in Malawi. Due to its wide distribution and morphological variation, the species was described multiple times under different names by various authors. The extensive synonymy includes Araneus marshalli and A. spenceri from South Africa, Aranea temeraria from Mount Kilimanjaro, and several Asian forms.[2]
In 1986, Grasshoff conducted a comprehensive revision of African Neoscona species and established the current taxonomy by synonymizing the various names under N. vigilans.[2] Most recently in 2024, Mi, Wang & Li synonymized Neoscona xiquanensis, described from Hainan Island, with N. vigilans.[3]
Distribution
N. vigilans has been recorded across a vast range spanning sub-Saharan Africa, Oman, Iran, Pakistan, India, China, Japan, and New Guinea.[1] In Africa, it occurs from Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the west to Kenya and Tanzania in the east, and south to South Africa. The species extends through the Arabian Peninsula and across Asia through the Indomalayan region.[2]
Habitat and ecology
Neoscona vigilans builds orb-webs at night in vegetation. The webs are removed early in the morning and the spiders rest on plants during the day. In South Africa, the species has been sampled from the Forest, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, Grassland, Nama Karoo, and Savanna biomes.[4]
