Black-and-White Spiny Spider

Description:

This is the first time that I have ever had a chance to photograph the web of Gasteracantha kuhli. The problem has been that the web is always fairly high, overhead, with the sky in the background. That usually results in the fine silk threads of the web becoming invisible. However, this morning the canopy of the trees was the background and I was lucky that the sunshine caught the web at a good angle to make it sparkle. The Spider does not show very well because it presented a "lateral/ventral" view which is not very useful. My attempts to adjust my position, for a better view of the spider, were eliminating the sprakle of the web. For a better picture of this species, please see my spotting - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/19...

Habitat:

This Black-and-White Spiny Spider was spotted in the rice mill backyard, this morning at around 9:15 a.m. Its web was moored between two Brazilian Pawpaw trees (Annona muricata L.) known in the Philippines as Guyabano. Plant information from - http://www.stuartxchange.org/Guayabano.h...

Notes:

Pic #1. shows the spider, at the hub, with a fluffy white line of silk. This could be a small linear stabilimentum (or the start of a longer one). There is something about it that doesn't look quite right. So, it might just be some kind of aberration. For the next five pictures, it might be necessary to zoom in a little to see the details of the web. Pic #2. shows the upper left quadrant. Pic #3. the upper right quadrant. Pic #4. the lower left quadrant. Pic #5. the lower right quadrant and Pic #6. is my attempt to show the entire web, all in the one photo. As you can see, the spider becomes too small in the middle.