Argiope aemula

(Walckenaer, 1841) · species

image placeholder — illustration coming later

Animalia/Arthropoda/Arachnida/Araneae/Araneidae/Argiope

At a glance

Occurrence records2 922

Data sources9

Biological traits31

DNA specimens25

eDNA detections12

Sources9 archives

Databases and archives Argiope aemula's data was compiled from.

WikipediaWikimedia Foundation9 languages↗

BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗

GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility2 922 records↗

ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI12 eDNA detections↗

BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics25 specimens↗

World Spider Trait DBMasaryk University31 traits · 2 refs↗

World Spider CatalogNaturhist. Museum Bernworld catalog↗

Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗

GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗

On this page5 sections

Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.

NarrativeWikipediaarticle

Traits & measurements2 literature sources31 traits

Occurrence & distributionGBIF2 922 records

Environmental DNA1 datasets · 2 countries12 detections

DNA & barcodingBOLD25 specimens

01Narrative

Argiope aemula, commonly known as the oval St Andrew's cross spider, is a species of spider in the family Araneidae which is native to southeast Asia, ranging from India and Sri Lanka to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vanuatu. It is one of the giant, conspicuous "signature spider" species of the genus Argiope, observed in tropical and subtropical grasslands.

No narrative description available for this taxon yet.

02Traits & measurements

SourcesCraig et al. 2020Barrion & Litsinger 1995

Morphometry28

Abdomen length♀17.17·♂3.7 mm

Body length♀25.92·♂6.9 mm

Cephalothorax length♀8.75·♂3.2 mm

Cephalothorax width♀7.5·♂2.8 mm

Femur I length♀11.67·♂3.15 mm

Femur II length♀11.33·♂3.1 mm

Femur III length♀8·♂2.1 mm

Femur IV length♀13.17·♂2.9 mm

Leg I length♀40.17·♂10.75 mm

Leg II length♀39.49·♂10.2 mm

Leg III length♀25.76·♂5.95 mm

Leg IV length♀36.75·♂8.65 mm

Metatarsus I length♀12.67·♂3.1 mm

Metatarsus II length♀12.67·♂2.8 mm

Metatarsus III length♀6·♂1.3 mm

Metatarsus IV length♀11·♂2.25 mm

Patella I length♀3.83·♂0.9 mm

Patella II length♀3.83·♂1 mm

Patella III length♀2.67·♂0.7 mm

Patella IV length♀3.33·♂0.9 mm

Tarsus I length♀2.5·♂1.2 mm

Tarsus II length♀2.33·♂1 mm

Tarsus III length♀0.92·♂0.7 mm

Tarsus IV length♀1.83·♂0.8 mm

Tibia I length♀9.5·♂2.4 mm

Tibia II length♀9.33·♂2.3 mm

Tibia III length♀8.17·♂1.15 mm

Tibia IV length♀7.42·♂1.8 mm

Biomechanics3

Silk strain0.3 mm

Silk strength921 mm

Silk toughness166 mm

05DNA & barcoding25 specimens

A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Argiope aemula has left across the world's sequence archives.

At a glance

DNA specimens25

BINs4

Marker genes2

eDNA detections12

Countries6

The DNA barcodethe species' typical barcode, built from every sequenced specimen

COI-5P658 bp consensus15 specimens

ACGT

▸ drag or hover over the strip to read any position — letter and how much it varies

Violet ticks below the strip = positions where individuals differ; flat = the species' unchanging signature. 78% of positions are identical in every specimen.

Where individuals differ — all 145 variable positions, in barcode order

1Tmostly conserved

5Tmostly conserved

7Amostly conserved

8Tmostly conserved

9Amostly conserved

12Tmostly conserved

13Avariable

22Gvariable

28Avariable

31Tmostly conserved

37Gvariable

43Avariable

44Amostly conserved

46Amostly conserved

49Amostly conserved

59Tmostly conserved

61Gvariable

67Gvariable

73Avariable

82Avariable

88Gvariable

97Gmostly conserved

100Amostly conserved

112Gmostly conserved

118Tvariable

127Amostly conserved

130Avariable

133Tmostly conserved

139Tmostly conserved

145Amostly conserved

148Avariable

160Amostly conserved

163Avariable

166Avariable

181Tvariable

184Gvariable

187Tvariable

190Gvariable

193Tmostly conserved

196Gmostly conserved

202Avariable

208Gvariable

211Gvariable

214Gvariable

217Avariable

226Cvariable

238Amostly conserved

253Avariable

259Tmostly conserved

262Avariable

265Avariable

266Cmostly conserved

268Cvariable

271Tvariable

274Tmostly conserved

277Amostly conserved

280Avariable

289Gvariable

295Tmostly conserved

304Amostly conserved

305Gmostly conserved

307Avariable

313Amostly conserved

316Avariable

319Amostly conserved

322Gmostly conserved

325Amostly conserved

334Tmostly conserved

337Tmostly conserved

340Tvariable

343Avariable

347Tvariable

349Avariable

352Avariable

355Avariable

356Tmostly conserved

358Gvariable

364Tmostly conserved

373Gvariable

376Gvariable

379Tmostly conserved

382Cvariable

400Tvariable

401Cmostly conserved

403Tmostly conserved

404Cmostly conserved

406Tvariable

415Gmostly conserved

433Gvariable

451Cvariable

454Amostly conserved

463Tmostly conserved

466Gvariable

472Tmostly conserved

478Amostly conserved

481Gvariable

487Amostly conserved

488Gmostly conserved

489Amostly conserved

490Amostly conserved

491Amostly conserved

492Amostly conserved

493Gmostly conserved

496Tmostly conserved

502Gvariable

505Tmostly conserved

508Tvariable

511Gmostly conserved

526Tmostly conserved

532Avariable

539Cmostly conserved

541Tmostly conserved

544Amostly conserved

547Amostly conserved

548Cvariable

550Tvariable

553Tmostly conserved

556Tvariable

559Avariable

565Gvariable

+25 more variable positions not shown

TACTTTATATTTAATTTTTGGGGCTTGAGCTGCTATGGTAGGAACAGCAATAAGAGTATTGATTCGGATTGAATTAGGTCAACCTGGGAG …

Variant network

Each circle is a barcode variant; bigger = more specimens, colour = region. Lines join the most similar variants and the tick marks count the mutations between them — a tight cluster is one “dialect”, a long line a more divergent lineage. Click a circle to list its actual specimens.

Diversity (π)7.0%

Haplotypes10

BINs4

Most divergent pair13.1%

Asia

Closest relatives by DNA barcode

The species whose COI barcode is most similar to this one — a quick “who is this most like”. The percentage is how much the barcode differs; it approximates, but is not, the full evolutionary tree.

Argiope minutasame genus9.3%Argiope appensasame genus9.4%Argiope aethereasame genus9.6%Argiope modestasame genus10.0%Argiope catenulatasame genus10.0%

Marker genes sequenced

★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.

★COI-5P18S-5P

animal barcoderibosomal

08Occurrence & distribution

Record type2 922 records

Wild obs. + sensor2 885

Museum / vouchered36

Other1

Range

Area of Occupancy AOO6 904 km²

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

Coordinate accuracy72% within 1 km

≤100 m 845≤1 km 773≤10 km 334>10 km 305

2 257 georeferenced · 628 without coordinates

Open the mapobservation + sensor2 885

Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence

Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.

Coordinate accuracy33% within 1 km

≤1 km 1≤10 km 1>10 km 1

3 georeferenced · 33 without coordinates

Open the institutions mapphysical evidence36

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

10Collections & institutions

Holding institutions2 of 4 geolocated

Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.

Institution	Specimens
Frankfurt am Main	10
Cambridge, US	3
National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineeringlocation not on record	1
Government College University Lahorelocation not on record	1

4 institutions · 15 of 36 vouchered records shown · 20 without an institution code

09Environmental DNA12 detections

Where the DNA of Argiope aemula was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.

Signal

Detections DNA found12

Studies independent surveys1

Countries2

Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections

Where its DNA was found

0 of 12 detections have coordinates

Open the map2 countries0

How strong is each trace?

DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.

Modelled climatemodelled

−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C

Temperature median21.9 °C 16.2–33.7

Seasonal swing summer↔winter21.8 °C

Max temp (day)27.4 °C 20.9–40.4

Min temp (night)14.5 °C 9.80–25.9

Precipitation23.8 mm/mo 5.90–174

Air humidity52.2 % 40.6–61.4

Moisture balance-61.1 mm/mo -219–40.9

Vapour deficit1,261 Pa 807–3,102

Wind speed2.00 m/s 1.60–3.10

Cloud cover23.5 % 11.6–50.8

CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 11 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche

How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.

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Argiope aemula

At a glance

Sources9 archives

Morphometry28

Biomechanics3

At a glance

Record type2 922 records

Range

Wildobservation + sensor

Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence

Wildobservation + sensor

Holding institutions2 of 4 geolocated

Signal

Where its DNA was found

How strong is each trace?

Modelled climatemodelled

Record type2 922 records