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Micrathena gracilis
A large orange spiny spider that elicits a gasp from anyone coming across this one! About 1.5 cm long. It runs rapidly from net attachment to net attachment when threatened. It also makes a large but irregular web. Reports for this species say they have 10 abdominal spines and come in a wide variety of colors from black, white, purple, yellow, orange etc. They are supposed to make CD-like webs (i.e. very compact) but the ones I've seen in this locality all have neglected webs. Micrathena species are members of the Orb Weaver Spiders.
Forest, Chorreadero Park, Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2008/10/16/s... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spined_mic... https://www.flickr.com/photos/oghy/51485...
Spotted on Aug 22, 2015
Submitted on Feb 18, 2016
4 Comments
Thank you Michael :)
Fantastic picture.
Thank you Emilie, you are right! I found pictures just like mine - as well as a wild variety of other colors! Amazing how variable this species can be.
Beautiful pics!
Micrathena gracilis?