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Spinybacked Orbweaver

uncommon

Spinybacked Orbweaver

Gasteracantha cancriformis

Habitat
Woodland edges and shrubby gardens across the southern US, Central America and the Caribbean
Body length
9 mm
Order
Araneae · Araneidae

Weird but real

Females wear a hard crab-shaped shell studded with six blood-red spikes and are wider than they are long.

Why it's cool

A spider that traded soft-and-squishy for tiny armored spaceship, then decorated its web with silk warning flags.

Photographs

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Philipp Weigell · CC BY 3.0 · source
Gasteracantha cancriformis (Spinybacked orbweaver) - ventral view
Josholith · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source