Argiope mascordi
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 A. mascordi female
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| Argiope mascordi Levi, 1983 |
Argiope mascordi is a species of orb-web spider found in Queensland, Australia. This the females of this species are smaller and less colourful than many other spiders in the Genus Argiope.
Like many other spider species very little is known about their biology. However, they possess a couple of interesting characteristics that distinguish them from their better-known relatives. Firstly, whilst they exhibit female biased sexual size dimorphism the difference between males and females is smaller than in other species, mainly because the males are larger than many other Argiope. Secondly, the web decorations in this species are different to those of other Argiope. Usually juveniles construct disc shaped decorations and the adults construct either a line (eg. Argiope picta) or a cross (eg. Argiope keyserlingi). However, in A. mascordi juveniles construct a cross and adults construct a disc. The reason for this apparent reversal in decorating behaviour remains unknown.
