Gasteracantha Sundevall, 1833

Macharoenboon, Kongkit, Siriwut, Warut & Jeratthitikul, Ekgachai, 2021, A review of the taxonomy of spiny-backed orb-weaving spiders of the subfamily Gasteracanthinae (Araneae, Araneidae) in Thailand, ZooKeys 1032, pp. 17-62 : 17

Genus Gasteracantha Sundevall, 1833

Type species.

Aranea cancriformis Linnaeus, 1758.

Diagnosis.

Cephalic region highly elevated near the middle, abruptly sloped downward posteriorly. Median ocular quadrangle wider behind than in front. Cephalothorax overlapping anterior abdomen. Sternum heart-shaped, pointed posteriorly, concave anteriorly below labium. Abdomen wider than long, with prominent coloration, three pairs of spines, and sigilla on dorsal and ventral sides. Four median sigilla arranged in trapezoid. Dorsal sigilla in three rows, situated near the anterior edge, posterior edge, and behind the posterior edge. Spinnerets encircled by a black sclerotized ring. IV femora elongated.

Remarks.

The genus Gasteracantha was first described by Sundevall (1833), and subsequently was revised by many authors ( Pickard-Cambridge 1879; Dahl 1914; Benoit 1962, 1964; Emerit 1974; Barrion and Litsinger 1995; Levi 1996). Currently, Gasteracantha comprises 88 valid species worldwide ( World Spider Catalog 2020).