John A. Kochalka

The other things that need to be known about this spider would be: 1) what is their preferred habitat?, 2) what does the egg sac look like? - need many photos, 3) in the micro-habitat where this spider lives, is there a species of plant that has black and red spines like the spider? That last comment was just a guess, remember, in the micro-habitat where Micrathena and Gasteracantha live, there is no plant in particular, that the spider might be mimmicing. It would seem that the spines on Micrathena and Gasteracantha are to make the spider unpalatable, but NOT plant mimmicry.

The other things that need to be known about this spider would be: 1) what is tieir preferred habitat?, 2) what does the egg sac look like? - need many photos, 3) in the micro-habitat where this spider lives, is there a species of plant that has blank and red spines like the spider? That last comment was just a guess, remember, in the micro-habitat where Micrathena and Gasteracantha live, there is no plant in particular, that the spider might be mimicing. It would seem that the spines on Micrathena and Gasteracantha are to make the spider unpalatable, but NOT plant mimicry.

OK, I will help. The first thing you must do is find the male, and also get many good photos of the female's web from different angles, with and without cornstarch (maizena). Jon Coddington, of the USNM Smithsonian, has published articles describing how to sprinkle cornstarch on spider webs for photography. The male will be found sitting at the edge of the female's web. This might be during the day, especially on a cloudy day, but more likely he will be seen at night, you must use a head lamp. The male might be just like the female but with large pedipalps, or just like the female but somewhat smaller and with the spines on the abdomen very small or nonexistant. He might be red or black, and he might be VERY tiny with an elongate abdomen or with a rounded abdomen.

I am an arachnologist with a specialty in spiders and also an entomologist, - also I study all freshwater and terrestrial invertebrates in Paraguay. In the 1970's I was studying the biogeography of spiders in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, where I collected Josa sp. (Anyphaenidae) at an altitude of 18,200 feet (aprox. 5560m) but have not published yet. This may be the highest altitude at which any spider has ever been collected outside of the Himalayas.

Now I am in my lab again and I have checked my books. The spider is Rubrepeira rubronigra, female. Distributed from Mexico to the Amazon Region of Brazil, it is a rather rare and poorly known species. No one has ever found a male specimen of this species. Read: H.W.Levi, 1991. The American species of the orb-weaver genus Carepalxis and the new genus Rubrepeira (Araneae: Araneidae). Psyche, vol. 98, no. 2-3: 251-264.

I think this is Rubrepeira rubronigra, but I haven't checked my books yet. Your specimen is a female. If I remember correctly, no one has ever collected a male specimen of the genus Rubrepeira, - there is much work to be done !!!

I think this is Rubrepeira rubronigra, but I haven't checked my books yet. Your specimen is a female. If I remember correctly, no one has ever collected a male specimen of the genus Rubepeira, - there is much work to be done !!!

I can identify this Araneidae spider, but I will need my books (H.W.Levi), which I do not have at the moment. I think, if I remember correctly, that this genus has only one species in the world. I would assume that this photo is from somewhere in South America, - ¿ correcto ?

I can identify this Araneidae spider, but I will need my books (H.W.Levi), which I do not have at the moment. I think, if I remember correctly, that this genus has only one species in the world.

Peucetia spiders are very good at catching bees and wasps. The long stiff spines on their legs enable them to catch the wasp without really touching it.