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Araneidae Cyrtophora

Cyrtophora unicolor (Doleschall, 1857)

Red Tent Spider

The female is easily recognised by its red, triangular and pock-marked abdomen with two distinct shoulder horns. The tiny male is greyish black with a distinct abdominal tip above the spinnerets. The cephalic region projects over the clypeus (more obvious in lateral view).

Length♀ 17–28 mm; ♂ 3 mm.
HabitatShrubs and trees in rural areas and jungle fringes.
BiologyThe female builds a strong three-dimensional web and hides in a curled leaf retreat suspended in the web. When disturbed, the spider may allow itself to fall to the ground and "plays dead" by retracting all its legs and remaining immobile. Females deposit their eggs in a lens-shaped egg sac and will sit over the elliptical structure for weeks until the spiderlings hatch.
Type LocalityMaluku, Indonesia.
DistributionWidespread, including Brunei, Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka, India, China, Philippines, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia (Maluku), Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, Sabah), Singapore.

Taxonomy

Type Depositories

  1. Holotype

    Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB), Germany (database export of type material, March 2019); Epeira stigmatisata Karsch, 1878, (2877)

Taxonomic references

  1. Epeira unicolor (Original description )

    Doleschall, 1857 Bijdrage tot de kennis der Arachniden van den Indischen Archipel: 419 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.66068

  2. Epeira unicolor (Original description ♀)

    Doleschall, 1859 Tweede Bijdrage tot de kennis der Arachniden van den Indischen Archipel: pl. 2, f. 1

  3. Epeira stigmatisata (Original description ♀)

    Karsch, 1878c Exotisch-araneologisches: 326, pl. 9, f. 3

  4. Epeira stigmatisata serrata (Original description ♀)

    van Hasselt, 1882 Araneae: 21, pl. 4, f. 5 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.119451

  5. Epeira stigmatisata serrata

    Thorell, 1890a Studi sui ragni Malesi e Papuani: 33

  6. Epeira unicolor (♀)

    Workman & Workman, 1894 Malaysian spiders: 20, pl. 20 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.101972

  7. Cyrtophora unicolor (Synonym of Epeira stigmatisata and E. stigmatisata serrata)

    Simon, 1895a Histoire naturelle des araignées. Deuxième édition, tome premier: 775 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973

  8. Araneus unicolor (♀)

    Pocock, 1897c Spinnen (Araneae): 600, pl. 25, f. 10

  9. Cyrtophora unicolor (♀)

    Chrysanthus, 1959 Spiders from south New Guinea II: 201, f. 3, 7, 26

  10. Cyrtophora unicolor (♀)

    Yaginuma, 1968b [The spider genus Cyrtophora of Japan]: 36, f. 8-9

  11. Cyrtophora unicolor (♀)

    Yaginuma, 1986a Spiders of Japan in color (new ed: 117, f. 62.4

  12. Cyrtophora unicolor (♀)

    Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 Riceland spiders of South and Southeast Asia: 587, f. 366a-i

  13. Cyrtophora unicolor (♀)

    Yin et al., 1997d Fauna Sinica: Arachnida: Araneae: Araneidae: 287, f. 196a-c

  14. Cyrtophora unicolor (♀)

    Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999 The spiders of China: 280, f. 164M-N, 165G

  15. Cyrtophora unicolor (♂♀)

    Tanikawa, 2007c An identification guide to the Japanese spiders of the families Araneidae, Nephilidae and Tetragnathidae: 43, f. 16-18, 434-436

  16. Cyrtophora unicolor (♀, D♂)

    Framenau, 2008b The male of the orb-weaving spider Cyrtophora unicolor (Araneae, Araneidae): 131, f. 1-9 doi:10.1636/H07-31.1

  17. Cyrtophora unicolor (♂♀)

    Tanikawa, 2009 Hersiliidae: 423, f. 23-25

  18. Cyrtophora unicolor (♂♀)

    Malamel, 2018 Species increments to the Indian Araneofauna (Arachnida, Araneae) from Pathiramanal Island: 112, f. 2A-B. 3A-I

Distribution of Cyrtophora unicolor (Doleschall, 1857)

Widespread, including Brunei, Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka, India, China, Philippines, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia (Maluku), Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, Sabah), Singapore.

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