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 mmDistribution
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)
References
Dahl F (1926) Spinnentiere oder Arachnoidea, I: Springspinnen (Salticidae). 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). Bull Br arachnol Soc 15: 205-208
Helsdingen P J van (2010a) Araneae. In: Fauna Europaea Database (Version 2010.1), online at www.european-arachnology.org
Levi H W (2004) Comments and new records for the American genera Gea and Argiope with the description of new species (Araneae: Araneidae). Bulletin Museum Comparative Zoology 158: 47-65
Levy G (1998a) Twelve genera of orb-weaver spiders (Araneae, Araneidae) from Israel. Israel J Zool 43: 311-365
Pantini P, Isaia M (2018) Checklist of the Italian spiders (version June 2018). online at http://www.museoscienzebergamo.it/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=96&Itemid=94 
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
World Spider Catalog (2018) World Spider Catalog, version 19.5. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (15.07.2018) doi: 10.24436/2