About Argiope catenulata (Doleschall, 1859)
Argiope catenulata is a colorful spider species. Females of the species have a yellow cephalothorax with black margins around the eyes, an oblong abdomen, and a black and silvery-whitish yellow dorsal pattern on the abdomen. Irregularly shaped brown patches are found from the middle of the abdomen (also called the opisthosoma) to its posterior end. Female legs are black with thin white rings. Males are smaller than females. Males have a brownish red to yellowish brown cephalothorax with black eye margins, a yellowish abdomen with the same dorsal pattern seen in females, and yellowish brown legs. Argiope catenulata are web-building spiders. They build circular webs that include distinctive zigzag white webbing called stabilimenta, which makes the webs sticky. This species is common across all types of rice environments. It is a late colonizer of rice fields, and individuals are found hanging head-down in their webs. Over a female's lifespan of 2 to 3 months, she lays a total of between 600 and 800 eggs. The eggs are held inside a light brown cocoon that hangs from the spider's web.
