Neoscona subfusca

Common Neoscona Orb-Web Spider
File:Neoscona subfusca 306018084 551816798.jpg
Female
File:Neoscona subfusca 313500634 566149002.jpg
Male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Neoscona
Species:	N. subfusca
Binomial name
Neoscona subfusca (C. L. Koch, 1837)
Synonyms
List of synonyms Aranea artifex C. L. Koch, 1837 L. Koch, 1867 Tullgren, 1910 Araneus dalmaticus Lessert, 1910 Aranea dalmatica Epeira illibata Strand, 1915 Araneus hoffmanni Schenkel, 1937 Neoscona albobitriangulosa Simon, 1870 Caporiacco, 1939 Araneus artifex Caporiacco, 1940 Araneus perplicatus Epeira perplicata Caporiacco, 1940 Neoscona perplicata Caporiacco, 1941 Epeira dalmatica O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872 Caporiacco, 1941 Araneus granatae Caporiacco, 1941 Neoscona artifex Epeira limans Caporiacco, 1947 Araneus tullgreni Caporiacco, 1947 Neoscona wiehlei Thorell, 1875 Caporiacco, 1949 Araneus airensis Denis, 1955 Araneus subfuscus Epeira subfusca Fuhn & Oltean, 1969 Neoscona parva Schmidt, 1973 Atea subfusca Doleschall, 1852 Lebert, 1877 Brignoli, 1983 Neoscona dalmatica Morano & Ferrández, 1986 Epeira radulans Pavesi, 1883 Aranea nigrita Epeira blanda Thorell, 1899 Aranea submodesta Strand, 1906 Araneus mesonauta Blackwall, 1865 Simon, 1907 Araneus occidaneus Simon, 1907 Araneus arganicola Epeira impedita Simon, 1909 Aranea restiaria Tullgren, 1910 Araneus granatai Neoscona immodesta

Neoscona subfusca is a species of spider in the family Araneidae. It is commonly known as the common Neoscona orb-web spider.

Etymology

The species name subfusca means "somewhat dark" in Latin.

Distribution

Neoscona subfusca is distributed widely in Africa, Southern Europe, and the near East. In South Africa, the species is very abundant and known from all nine provinces, occurring in more than 40 protected areas at altitudes ranging from 1 to 2,826 m above sea level.

Habitat and ecology

This medium-sized species makes orb-webs in vegetation at night and removes the web early in the morning and rests on plants. The species has been sampled from all the floral biomes. It was also sampled from crops such as avocado, citrus, grapefruit, macadamia, pecan and pistachio orchards, pine plantations, cotton, tomatoes and vineyards. Neoscona subfusca is also associated with the bark of Vachellia xanthophloea trees in Ndumo Game Reserve and Ochna pulchra trees in Nylsvley Nature Reserve.

Description

See also: Glossary of spider terms

• female
  female
• female
  female
• male
  male
• immature
  immature

Neoscona subfusca is known from both sexes. These are medium-sized spiders measuring 4.5-10.5 mm in body length.

Conservation

Neoscona subfusca is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range. There are no significant threats to the species. The species has been sampled from more than 20 protected areas.

Taxonomy

The species was described by C. L. Koch in 1837 as Atea subfusca from Greece. It was revised by Grasshoff in 1986.