Argiope aetherea

Argiope aetherea
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Argiope
Species:	A. aetherea
Binomial name
	Argiope aetherea; (Walckenaer, 1841)
Synonyms
	Epeira aetherea Walckenaer, 1841 ; Argiope regalis L. Koch, 1871 ; Argiope variabilis Bradley, 1876 ; Argiope lunata Bradley, 1876 ; Argiope brownii O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877 ; Argiope verecunda Thorell, 1878 ; Argiope aetherea (Walckenaer, 1841) ; Argiope friedericii Strand, 1911 ; Argiope wolfi Strand, 1911 ; Argiope maerens Kulczyński, 1911 ; Argiope udjirica Strand, 1911 ; Argiope wogeonicola Strand, 1913 ; Gea rotunda Hogg, 1915 ; Argiope novae-pommeraniae Strand, 1915 ;

Argiope aetherea is a common, large orb-web spider (family Araneidae). Like other species of Argiope, it is commonly known as the St Andrew's Cross spider, due to the characteristic cross-shaped web decorations female spiders often include in their webs. A. aetherea is similar in appearance to A. keyserlingi, however female A. aetherea are generally larger than A. keyserlingi.^[2] Like most orb-web spiders, A. aetherea shows considerable sexual size dimorphism, with females being many times larger than males.