Verrucosa arenata

Verrucosa arenata
female V. arenata from Virginia
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Verrucosa
Species:	V. arenata
Binomial name
Verrucosa arenata (Walckenaer, 1842)
Synonyms
Epeira mexicana Lucas, 1833 Epeira arenata Walckenaer, 1841 Epeira verrucosa Hentz, 1850 Acanthepeira verrucosa Marx, 1883 Verrucosa arenata McCook, 1888 Mahadeva verrucosa Keyserling, 1892 Verrucosa arenata McCook, 1894 Araneus mexicanus Simon, 1895 Epeira verrucosa Emerton, 1902 Verrucosa arenata F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904 Araneus arenatus Petrunkevitch, 1911 Araneus aequiangulus Franganillo, 1930 Araneus aequiangulus ochraceus Franganillo, 1930 Verrucosa arenata Petrunkevitch, 1930 Verrucosa arenata Levi, 1976 Verrucosa arenata Coddington, 1990 Verrucosa arenata Scharff & Coddington, 1997 Verrucosa arenata Levi, 2002 Verrucosa arenata Lise, Kesster & da Silva, 2015

Verrucosa arenata, also known as the arrowhead spider, arrowhead orb weaver, or triangle orb weaver, is a species of orb-weaver spider (family Araneidae). It is widely distributed in the New World. Other species of the genus Verrucosa occur in North and South America.

The genus name Verrucosa derives from Latin, meaning "warty". The specific epithet arenata derives from Latin "arena", meaning "sand".

Description

Arrowhead spiders create a new web every day, removing the old one after sunrise. Unlike most other orb weavers, it will rest in the web with the head up.

Distribution and habitat

V. arenata occurs from North America down to Panama, and has been found in the Greater Antilles.

Gallery

• 
  male from Virginia
• 
  lateral (female)
• 
  showing eyes
• 
  with prey
• 
  with kleptoparasitic spider
• 
  female + male (Emerton 1902)

External links

Media related to Verrucosa arenata at Wikimedia Commons