Argiope trifasciata (Forsskål, 1775)
Description
Male
Prosoma silvery with brownish to deep brown markings. Sternum light at middle, black on sides with 4 light, shiny spots. Chelicerae with 4 denticles on promargin and 3 denticles on retromargin. Leg I brown, Legs II-IV yellowish, femora and tibiae with dark annulations. Opisthosoma: dorsum silvery with dark spots and black lines in posterior area.
Body length male: 4-5.2 mmFemale
Opisthosoma sometimes scalloped on sides.
Body length female: 14.9-23.5 mmAdditional information
This species of American origin is not native to Europe (alien species). It had been introduced to Europe at least once and did establish.
Distribution
Figures
Pedipalp, mesal view
(Levi 2004)
Pedipalp, prolateral view
(Levy 1998a)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Levy 1998a)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Levy 1998a)
Opisthosoma, ventral view
(Levi 2004)
Habitus
(Levi 2004)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Levi 2004)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Levi 2004)
Epigyne, posterior view
(Levi 2004)
Epigyne, lateral view
(Levi 2004)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Levy 1998a)
Epigyne, posterior view
(Levy 1998a)
Epigyne, lateral view
(Levy 1998a)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Levy 1998a)
Opisthosoma, ventral view
(Levi 2004)
Opisthosoma, dorsal view
(Levy 1998a)
Habitus
(Levi 2004)
Distribution List
References
Bosmans R, Van Keer J, Russell-Smith A, Hadjiconstantis M, Komnenov M, Bosselaers J, Huber S, McCowan D, Snazell R, Decae A, Zoumides C, Kielhorn K-H, Oger P (2019c) Spiders of Cyprus (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from Cyprus. Newsletter of the Belgian Arachnological Society 34, Suppl. 1: 1-173 
Bosmans R. (unpubl.) Provisional list of spiders of North Africa. Database excerpt Aug. 2019
Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). [N.B.: few records from this paper are not taken over and not commented] Zootaxa 4614: 201-254
Dahl F (1926) Spinnentiere oder Arachnoidea, I: Springspinnen (Salticidae). Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 3: 1-55
Di Pompeo P, Kulczycki A, Legittimo C M, Simeon E (2011) New records for Europe: Argiope trifasciata (Forsskål, 1775) from Italy and Malta (Araneae, Araneidae). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 15: 205-208
Levi H W (2004) Comments and new records for the American genera Gea and Argiope with the description of new species (Araneae: Araneidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 158: 47-65
Levy G (1998a) Twelve genera of orb-weaver spiders (Araneae, Araneidae) from Israel. Israel Journal of Zoology 43: 311-365
Pantini P, Isaia M (2019) Araneae.it: the online catalog of Italian spiders, with addenda on other arachnid orders occurring in Italy (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Palpigradi, Pseudoscorpionida, Scorpiones, Solifugae). http://araneae.it. Fragmenta Entomologica 51: 127-152
Pfliegler W A, Schönhofer A, Niedbała W, Vella P, Sciberras A, Vella A (2017) New records of mites (Acari) and harvestmen (Opiliones) from Malta with a preliminary checklist of Maltese Arachnida. Soil Organisms 89: 85-110
Ponel P, Oger P, Poher Y, Médail F (2017) Contribution à l'inventaire des araignées de l'île Cavallo (archipel des Lavezzi, Corse-du-Sud), avec une argiope nouvelle pour la fauna franҫaise, Argiope trifasciata (Forskål, 1775) (Araneae, Araneidae) Revue Arachnologique (2) 4: 2-4
WSC (2021) World Spider Catalog. Version 21.5. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (03.01.2021) doi: 10.24436/2