Trichonephila fenestrata
| Black-legged Golden Orb-Web Spider | |
|---|---|
| female T. fenestrata from Kenya | |
| male from South Africa | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Nephilidae |
| Genus: | Trichonephila |
| Species: | T. fenestrata
|
| Binomial name | |
| Trichonephila fenestrata (Thorell, 1859)[1]
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Trichonephila fenestrata is a southern African species of spider in the family Araneidae.[2] It is commonly known as the black-legged golden orb-web spider.[3]
Distribution
Trichonephila fenestrata occurs in Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa.[2] In South Africa, it is found in all provinces and occurs in more than 20 protected areas.[3]
Three subspecies are known from different parts of Africa.
Habitat and ecology
The species inhabits altitudes ranging from 0 to 1,795 m above sea level and has been sampled from all biomes except the Desert and Succulent Karoo biomes.[3] Trichonephila fenestrata constructs large, complete golden yellow coloured orb webs between trees and shrubs.[3] The species has also been sampled in citrus and prickly pear orchards.[3]
Males of this species often autotomize their legs as a counter-adaptation to the sexual cannibalism of females.[4]
Description
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female
-
female
-
female
-
juvenile female
Conservation
Trichonephila fenestrata is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide range.[3] The species is protected in more than 20 protected areas.[3]
Taxonomy
The species was originally described by Thorell in 1859 as Nephila fenestrata from Caffraria (old name for Eastern Cape).[3] It was transferred to the genus Trichonephila by Kuntner et al. in 2019.[2] The species is known from both sexes.[3]
References
- ^ Thorell, T. (1859). "Nya exotiska Epeirider". Öfversigt af Kongliga Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar. 16: 299.
- ^ a b c "Trichonephila fenestrata (Thorell, 1859)". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N.; Webb, P. (2022). The Araneidae of South Africa. Version 2: part 3 (Ne-U). South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. pp. 59–60. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6326991. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
- ^ Neumann, Rainer; Schneider, Jutta M. (2020). "Males sacrifice their legs to pacify aggressive females in a sexually cannibalistic spider". Animal Behaviour. 159. Elsevier BV: 59–67. Bibcode:2020AnBeh.159...59N. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.11.003. ISSN 0003-3472.