Argiope aetherea
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[Photo] Author: Matt Bruce

Argiope aetherea is a common, large orb-web spider This species is commonly known as the St Andrew's Cross spider due to the characteristic cross-shaped web decorations often included in their webs by female spiders. A. aetherea is similar in appearance to A. keyserlingi, however female A. aetherea are generally larger than A. keyserlingi. Like most orb-web spiders, A. aetherea shows considerable sexual size dimorphism, with females being many times larger than males.

Distribution
The species is commonly found along the coast of Queensland, Australia from Hervey Bay in the South to Cape York in the north. It occurs also in China.

Subspecies
There exists a subspecies from New Guinea:

Argiope aetherea annulipes Thorell, 1881

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aetherea

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