Micrathena
Sign in to saveMicrathena, known as spiny orbweavers, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. Micrathena contains more than a hundred species, most of them Neotropical woodland-dwelling species. The name is derived from the Greek "micro", meaning "small", and the goddess Athena.
Taxonomy · GBIF
Spined Micrathena
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumArthropoda
- ClassArachnida
- OrderAraneae
- FamilyAraneidae
Observations20,839
Grouparachnida
via GBIF · iNaturalist · CC0
Article
3 sectionsContents
- Species
- In North America
- References
Micrathena, known as spiny orbweavers, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. Micrathena contains more than a hundred species, most of them Neotropical woodland-dwelling species. The name is derived from the Greek "micro", meaning "small", and the goddess Athena.
Species with extremely long spines evolved at least eight times in the genus Micrathena and likely function as anti-predator defenses. Gasteracantha orb-weavers also have hardened abdomens with variously shaped spines, but they are not closely related to Micrathena within the orb-weaver family.