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Sticker of Parallel-spined spiny orbweaver
Bug card No. 3257 of 4,939

Parallel-spined spiny orbweaver

Gasteracantha diardi
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsSpidersRainforests and jungles8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The parallel-spined spiny orbweaver is a spider with a very wide, hard body and six spikes sticking out of it. It is much wider than it is long, a bit like a tiny bow tie. Most females are dark red or brown, sometimes with pale stripes.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!
Lives in
South East Asia, from southern China and Thailand to Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo and Indonesia
Top speed
about 1.2 km/h (0.75 mph)
On foot, estimate
What does it eat?
It catches flying insects in its round web.
For real!Photo of Parallel-spined spiny orbweaver
Picture by Scott Loarie. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It has three pairs of spines on its body. The middle pair is the longest and strongest.

2

Under special ultraviolet light, the top of its body glows blue.

3

It looks so much like some of its cousins that even experts can mix them up.

4

Because it looks a bit different in different places, scientists once gave it many different names.

you asked

Most asked questions about Parallel-spined spiny orbweaver

?Where does the parallel-spined spiny orbweaver live?

In South East Asia, from southern China to Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo and Indonesia.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Gasteracantha diardi
Group
Spiders
Family
Araneidae
Classification
Arachnida > Araneae > Araneidae
Lives on
Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Gasteracantha diardi (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Scott Loarie. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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