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Araneus trifolium (Hentz, 1847)

shamrock orbweaver

	FAMILY: ARANEIDAE Simon, 1895     Genus: Araneus Clerck, 1757         Species: Araneus trifolium (Hentz, 1847)
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General Comments: Females are among the largest spiders of the Genus in Canada.

Family Common Name:  orbweavers
Genus Common Name:  angulate & roundshouldered orbweavers
Species Common Name:  shamrock orbweaver

Global Distribution: USA, Canada, Alaska
Nearctic States & Provinces: (from the Nearctic Spider Database)   AB BC MB NB NL NT NS ON QC SK YT AK CO CT MT NH PA WA WV
Collection Locales Mapped by Year Collected: (from the Nearctic Spider Database)

Specimen Search Specimen list 86, 224

Feeding Guild:^† orb weavers
^†Feeding guild when noted defined by Uetz, G. W., J. Halaj, and A. B. Cady. 1999. Guild structure of spiders in major crops. Journal of Arachnology 27:270-280. PDF
Recorded Habitats: Individuals build large orb webs in shrubs and in tall herbs such as goldenrod.
Life & Natural History: The web has about 20 radii and there is a silk-lined retreat among leaves and a signal thread. Maturity is from August to October and egg sacs may contain upwards of 2,600 eggs.

Seasonality of Specimen Records: (from the Nearctic Spider Database - Requires Flash plug-in - refresh this page if not visible)

Image(s) of Habitus:

Description: Carapace white to brown, legs brown with indistinct darker rings, abdomen off-white.

Male Dimensions: A = 3 mm  A+B = 5.31 mm  C = 2.36 mm

Image of External Male Genitalia: email an image

Description: Carapace off-white with dark median longitudinal stripe and with dark marginal stripes. Legs are white to yellow with dark annulations. Abdomen off-white, reddish or purplish, sometimes greenish. Colored specimens usually with paired and unpaired angular white spots. Venter dark, usually unmarked.

Female Dimensions: A = 4.66 mm  A+B = 10.61 mm  C = 4.06 mm

Image of Epigynum: email an image

Descriptions Source:
Dondale, C. D., J. H. Redner, P. Paquin & H. W. Levi. 2003. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 23. The orb-weaving spiders of Canada and Alaska (Araneae: Uloboridae, Tetragnathidae, Araneidae, Theridiosomatidae). NRC Research Press, Ottawa, 371 pp.

Epeira jaspidata Walckenaer 1842 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054230

Araneus trifolium Hentz 1847 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:9737481

Epeira aureola Hentz 1847 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054233

Epeira septima Hentz 1847 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054232

Epeira trifolium Hentz 1847 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054231

Epeira trifolium Emerton 1884 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054234

Epeira trifolium McCook 1894 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054235

Epeira trifolium candicans McCook 1894 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054236

Epeira trifolium Emerton 1902 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054237

Araneus trifolium Simon 1903 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054238

Araneus septimus Petrunkevitch 1911 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054239

Araneus trifolium candidans Petrunkevitch 1911 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054241

Aranea gosogana Chamberlin 1919 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054242

Araneus trifolium Archer 1940 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:9735288

Araneus trifolium Comstock 1940 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054243

Aranea trifolium Chamberlin & Ivie 1944 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054245

Epeira trifolium Kaston 1948 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054246

Araneus jaspidatus Yaginuma 1957 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054247

Araneus trifolium Levi 1971 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2054248

Araneus trifolium Dondale et al. 2003 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2009643

Araneus trifolium Paquin & Dupérré 2003 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2009644

Archer, A. F. 1940. The Argiopidae or orb-weaving spiders of Alabama. Mus. Pap. geol. Surv. Ala 14: 1-77.

Chamberlin, R. V. 1919. New Californian spiders. Jour. Ent. Zool. Claremont 12: 1-17.

Chamberlin, R. V. & W. Ivie. 1944. Spiders of the Georgia region of North America. Bull. Univ. Utah 35(9): 1-267.

Comstock, J. H. 1940. The spider book, revised and edited by W. J. Gertsch. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, xi + 727 pp.

Dondale, C. D., J. H. Redner, P. Paquin & H. W. Levi. 2003. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 23. The orb-weaving spiders of Canada and Alaska (Araneae: Uloboridae, Tetragnathidae, Araneidae, Theridiosomatidae). NRC Research Press, Ottawa, 371 pp.

Emerton, J. H. 1902. The common spiders of the United States. Boston, pp. 1-225.

Emerton, J. H. 1884. New England spiders of the family Epeiridae. Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts Sci. 6: 295-342.

Hentz, N. M. 1847. Descriptions and figures of the araneides of the United States. Boston J. nat. Hist. 5: 443-478.

Kaston, B. J. 1948. Spiders of Connecticut. Bull. Conn. St. geol. nat. Hist. Surv. 70: 1-874.

Levi, H. W. 1971. The diadematus group of the orb-weaver genus Araneus north of Mexico (Araneae: Araneidae). Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv. 141: 131-179.

McCook, H. C. 1894. American spiders and their spinningwork. Philadelphia, 3: 1-285.

Paquin, P. & N. Dupérré. 2003. Guide d'identification des araignées de Québec. Fabreries, Suppl. 11 1-251.

Petrunkevitch, A. 1911. A synonymic index-catalogue of spiders of North, Central and South America with all adjacent islands, Greeland, Bermuda, West Indies, Terra del Fuego, Galapagos, etc. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 29: 1-791.

Simon, E. 1903. Liste des arachnides recueillis par M. Schmitt dans l'île Anticosti. Bull. Mus. hist. nat. Paris 9: 386-387.

Walckenaer, C. A. 1842. Histoire naturelle des Insects. Aptères. Paris, 2: 1-549.

Yaginuma, T. 1957. Spiders from Hokkaido and Rishiri Island. Acta arachn. Tokyo 14: 51-61.

^‡Nomenclature and taxonomic references from the World Spider Catalog

Dondale, C. D., J. H. Redner, P. Paquin & H. W. Levi. 2003. The insects and arachnids of Canada. Part 23. The orb-weaving spiders of Canada and Alaska (Araneae: Uloboridae, Tetragnathidae, Araneidae, Theridiosomatidae). NRC Research Press, Ottawa, 371 pp.

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