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: 4.0-5.2 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)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Baert et al. 2023)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Baert et al. 2023)
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)
Epigyne
(Baert et al. 2023)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Levy 1998a)
Opisthosoma, ventral view
(Levi 2004)
Opisthosoma, dorsal view
(Levy 1998a)
Habitus
(Levi 2004)
Distribution List
References
Baert L, Maelfait J-P, Desender K, Hendrickx F, Dekoninck W, Berthet M, Bouckaert K, Caudron J, Leclercq M (2023) Updated checklist, origin, distribution, literature and genital drawings of the spiders of the Galápagos Islands Belgian Journal of Entomology 142: 1-188 
Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357
Benhalima S, Bosmans R (2024) First historical checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Morocco, between 1840–2024. Zootaxa 5555: 407-535
Bosmans R (2003) A checklist of the spiders of Tunisia, with description of a new species of Palliduphantes Saaristo & Tanasevitch (Araneae: Linyphiidae). Kaupia - Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte 12: 89-109
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
Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254
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
El-Hennawy H K (2017a) A list of Egyptian spiders (revised in 2017). Serket 15: 167-183
Elkrew H, Hamza A, Ghana S, Shaibi T, Swehli A I, Elmareme H, Ahmad A (2024) Checklist of the spiders (Araneae) of Libya. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences 22: 19346-19369
Isaia M, Tolve M, Pantini P (2025) Araneae.it: 2.0: the new updated version of the digital catalog of the Italian spiders and other arachnids (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Scorpiones, Pseudoscorpiones, Palpigradi, Solifugae). Fragmenta Entomologica 57: 197-204
Kmira G, Nasri-Ammar, Petillon J, Bosmans R (2025) Catalog of the spiders of Tunisia (Arachnida: Araneae). Zootaxa 5641: 1-95
Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468
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
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 (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (13.2.2026) doi: 10.24436/2
Updates
| 02-07-2025 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 24-01-2025 | Image insert | |
| 20-12-2024 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 18-12-2024 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 06-03-2024 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 30-10-2023 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 08-04-2021 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 14-06-2020 | Datasheet update | Detail |
| 26-08-2017 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 04-06-2013 | Datasheet update | Detail |
| 04-06-2013 | Image insert |