Neoscona chiarinii

Neoscona chiarinii is a species of spider in the family Araneidae.^[2] It is commonly known as Chiarini's Neoscona orb-web spider and is an endemic species to Africa.^[3]

Chiarini's Neoscona Orb-Web Spider
Conservation status
Least Concern (SANBI Red List)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Neoscona
Species:	N. chiarinii
Binomial name
Neoscona chiarinii (Pavesi, 1883)[1]
Synonyms
Araneus accentuatus Thorell, 1899 Araneus potteri Simon, 1901 Araneus lapillulus Simon, 1907 Araneus mutilatus Caporiacco, 1947

Distribution

Neoscona chiarinii is known from eight African countries: Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. The species also occurs in South Africa.^[3]

In South Africa, the species has been recorded from two provinces: KwaZulu-Natal (Tembe Elephant Park) and Mpumalanga (Dullstroom).^[3]

Habitat and ecology

Neoscona chiarinii are orb-web spiders that make orb-webs at night in vegetation and remove them early in the morning. The species has been sampled from the Grassland and Savanna biomes.^[3]

Description

See also: Glossary of spider terms

Neoscona chiarinii is known from both sexes.^[3]

Conservation

Neoscona chiarinii is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range in Africa. The species is protected in Tembe Elephant Park. There are no known threats to the species.^[3]

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by Pavesi in 1883 from Ethiopia as Epeira chiarinii. It was revised by Grasshoff in 1986, who synonymized several species including Araneus accentuatus, A. lapillulus, A. mutilatus, and A. potteri.^[4]