Argiope is a genus of large orb weaver spiders in the family Araneidae. Species in the genus often have a strikingly coloured abdomen and long, often banded legs, and build large, circular orb webs that are often marked with a conspicuous white web decoration. The genus is distributed throughout the world, and most countries with tropical or temperate climates host one or more species. They are commonly found in gardens, grasslands, fields and other areas with vegetation.
Description Argiope are large orb weavers; females reach a body length of up to . The carapace is typically covered in silvery hairs, which reflect sunlight when the spider crawls in the sun, giving it a metallic, white appearance. The head region of the carapace is considerably narrower than the wide thoracic region behind it, and the chelicerae are relatively weak. The legs are long and slender, often dark and sometimes banded. The first pair of legs is the longest and the second almost as long; the fourth pair is slightly shorter or, in African species, about as long, and the third pair is much shorter.
The upper side of the abdomen is often brightly coloured, commonly with silver or gold and black. At its simplest the abdomen is oval and up to twice as long as it is wide, but it often has lateral lobes or projections, and in some species its rear end extends over the spinnerets. The underside usually has a dark median area with white spots, bordered by two pale longitudinal bands.
The genus shows pronounced sexual dimorphism. The male is much smaller than the female; in African species, the female's body length can be up to five times the male's. Males of the same species vary considerably in size and colour. The male's carapace is often bare or only sparsely covered with hairs, and its chelicerae are often very small.
Taxonomy The genus was first described by Jean Victoire Audouin in 1826, although he wrote that it had been established by Savigny. The type species is Aranea lobata .
In the first edition of the work in which the description appeared (Description de l'Égypte: Histoire Naturelle), Audouin used the spelling "Argyope" for both the French vernacular name and the Latin generic name. In the second edition, he continued to use "Argyope" for the French vernacular name, but the first mention of the Latin generic name was spelled "Argiope", although the binomial names of the species continued to use "Argyope". This led to controversy as to whether Audouin had intended to correct the spelling of the generic name, which is derived from the Greek αργιόπη. In 1975, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature validated the spelling "Argiope", on the basis that the change from the first to the second edition was an intended correction.
Etymology Sources differ on the origin of the genus name. It has been said to derive from the Latin word argentum, meaning silver, but it is also given as derived from the Greek Ἀργιόπη (Argiópē), the basis on which the spelling "Argiope" rather than "Argyope" was treated as a correction (see above). Argiope is a name from Greek mythology, interpreted as meaning "she of the white face".
Common names Argiope bruennichi is commonly known as the wasp spider. In Australia, Argiope keyserlingi and Argiope aetherea are known as St Andrew's cross spiders, for their habit of resting in the web with paired legs outstretched in the shape of an X, mirroring the large white web decoration beneath them, which has the same form as the cross of St Andrew.
In North America, Argiope aurantia is commonly known as the black and yellow garden spider, zipper spider, corn spider, or writing spider, because of the similarity of its web decorations to writing.
The East Asian species Argiope amoena is known in Japan as kogane-gumo. In the Philippines, Argiope species are known as gagambang ekis ("X spider") and gagambang pari ("priest spider"), as the spider's body resembles a priest's head with a mitre.
Species , the genus includes 87 species and two subspecies. The list of species continues to be revised. In 2026, A. undulata, which Levi had treated as a synonym of A. pulchella in 1983, was reinstated as a valid species, and A. sapoa was found to be a synonym of Gea spinipes.
Argiope aemula (Walckenaer, 1841) – India to Philippines, Indonesia (Java, Sulawesi), Vanuatu Argiope aetherea (Walckenaer, 1841) – China to Australia Argiope aetheroides Yin, Wang, Zhang, Peng & Chen, 1989 – China, Japan Argiope ahngeri Spassky, 1932 – Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan? Argiope amoena L. Koch, 1878 – China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan. Introduced to Hawaii Argiope anasuja Thorell, 1887 – Seychelles, Maldives, Iran, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Australia (Cocos Is.) Argiope anomalopalpis Bjørn, 1997 – DR Congo, South Africa Argiope appensa (Walckenaer, 1841) – Taiwan to New Guinea. Introduced to Hawaii Argiope argentata (Fabricius, 1775) – United States to Chile, Argentina Argiope aurantia Lucas, 1833 – Canada to Costa Rica Argiope aurocincta Pocock, 1898 – DR Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa Argiope australis (Walckenaer, 1805) – Cape Verde, Senegal, Morocco, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa Argiope beibeng Mi & Wang, 2024 – China Argiope bivittigera Strand, 1911 – Indonesia Argiope blanda O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898 – United States to Costa Rica Argiope boesenbergi Levi, 1983 – China, Korea, Japan Argiope bougainvilla (Walckenaer, 1847) – New Guinea to Solomon Islands Argiope bruennichi (Scopoli, 1772) – Europe, North Africa, Turkey, Middle East, Russia (Europe to Far East), Caucasus, Iran, Central Asia to China, Korea, Japan Argiope brunnescentia Strand, 1911 – New Guinea, Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.) Argiope buehleri Schenkel, 1944 – Timor Argiope bullocki Rainbow, 1908 – Australia (New South Wales) Argiope butchko LeQuier & Agnarsson, 2016 – Cuba Argiope caesarea Thorell, 1897 – India, Myanmar, China Argiope caledonia Levi, 1983 – New Caledonia, Vanuatu Argiope cameloides Zhu & Song, 1994 – China Argiope carvalhoi (Mello-Leitão, 1944) – Brazil Argiope catenulata (Doleschall, 1859) – India, Myanmar, China, Taiwan, Japan (Ryukyu Is.), Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia (Northern Territory), Vanuatu, Palau Argiope chloreides Chrysanthus, 1961 – India, China, Laos, Malaysia (peninsula), Indonesia (New Guinea) Argiope chloreis Thorell, 1877 – China, Malaysia (peninsula, Borneo), Indonesia (Sumatra, Sulawesi) Argiope comorica Bjørn, 1997 – Comoros, Mayotte Argiope coquereli (Vinson, 1863) – Tanzania (Zanzibar), Madagascar Argiope dang Jäger & Praxaysombath, 2009 – Thailand, Laos Argiope dietrichae Levi, 1983 – Australia (Western Australia, Northern Australia) Argiope doboensis Strand, 1911 – Indonesia, New Guinea Argiope doleschalli Thorell, 1873 – Indonesia (Moluccas) Argiope ericae Levi, 2004 – Brazil, Argentina Argiope flavipalpis (Lucas, 1858) – Africa, Yemen Argiope florida Chamberlin & Ivie, 1944 – United States Argiope halmaherensis Strand, 1907 – Indonesia (Moluccas, New Guinea), Papua New Guinea Argiope hinderlichi Jäger, 2012 – Laos Argiope hoiseni Tan, 2018 – Malaysia (peninsula) Argiope intricata Simon, 1877 – Philippines Argiope jinghongensis Yin, Peng & Wang, 1994 – China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand Argiope kaingang Corronca & Rodríguez-Artigas, 2015 – Argentina Argiope katherina Levi, 1983 – Northern Australia Argiope keyserlingi Karsch, 1878 – Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, Lord Howe Is.) Argiope kochi Levi, 1983 – Australia (Queensland) Argiope legionis Motta & Levi, 2009 – Brazil Argiope levii Bjørn, 1997 – Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa Argiope lobata (Pallas, 1772) (type species) – Southern Europe to Central Asia and China, northern Africa, Tanzania, South Africa, Middle East, Pakistan, India, Myanmar Argiope luzona (Walckenaer, 1841) – Philippines Argiope macrochoera Thorell, 1891 – India (Nicobar Is.) Argiope madang Levi, 1984 – New Guinea Argiope magnifica L. Koch, 1871 – Australia (Queensland) to Solomon Is. Argiope mangal Koh, 1991 – India, Singapore Argiope manila Levi, 1983 – Philippines Argiope mascordi Levi, 1983 – Australia (Queensland) Argiope minuta Karsch, 1879 – India, Bangladesh, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan Argiope modesta Thorell, 1881 – Indonesia Argiope niasensis Strand, 1907 – Indonesia Argiope ocula Fox, 1938 – China, Taiwan, Japan Argiope ocyaloides L. Koch, 1871 – Australia (Queensland) Argiope pentagona L. Koch, 1871 – Fiji Argiope perforata Schenkel, 1963 – China, Vietnam Argiope picta L. Koch, 1871 – Indonesia (Moluccas) to Australia Argiope pictula Strand, 1911 – Indonesia (Sulawesi) Argiope ponape Levi, 1983 – Pohnpei (Micronesia) Argiope possoica Merian, 1911 – Indonesia (Sulawesi) Argiope probata Rainbow, 1916 – Australia (Queensland) Argiope protensa L. Koch, 1872 – New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand Argiope pulchella Thorell, 1881 – Pakistan, India to China and Indonesia Argiope pulchelloides Yin, Wang, Zhang, Peng & Chen, 1989 – China Argiope radon Levi, 1983 – Australia (Northern Territory) Argiope ranomafanensis Bjørn, 1997 – Madagascar Argiope reinwardti (Doleschall, 1859) – Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Christmas Is. Argiope sector (Forsskål, 1776) – Cape Verde, Senegal, North Africa, Middle East Argiope songketica Dhiya'ulhaq & Rahmadi, 2026 – Indonesia (Borneo) Argiope squallica Strand, 1915 – New Guinea Argiope submaronica Strand, 1916 – Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil Argiope takum Chrysanthus, 1971 – New Guinea Argiope tapinolobata Bjørn, 1997 – Senegal, Namibia, South Africa Argiope taprobanica Thorell, 1887 – Sri Lanka Argiope trifasciata (Forsskål, 1775) – North, Central and South America. Introduced to St. Helena, Africa, Portugal, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, India, China, Japan, Australia (Tasmania), Pacific Is. A. t. deserticola Simon, 1906 – Sudan A. t. kauaiensis Simon, 1900 – Hawaii Argiope truk Levi, 1983 – Caroline Is. Argiope undulata Thorell, 1887 – India, Myanmar Argiope versicolor (Doleschall, 1859) – Pakistan, China, Indonesia (Java) Argiope vietnamensis Ono, 2010 – China, Vietnam
Distribution and habitat Argiope species are found worldwide, absent only from the coldest regions. The greatest number of species occurs in New Guinea and Australia, and the number declines towards the Asian mainland. In 1983, Levi counted 49 species in the western Pacific region including eastern Asia, 2 in Europe, 7 in the Americas and about 10 in Africa and western Asia; Bjørn's 1997 revision of the species of Africa and its neighbouring islands recognised 13.
Three species now occur in Europe. A. bruennichi and A. lobata are widespread across the Old World, while A. trifasciata, which is native to the Americas, has spread worldwide and been introduced to Portugal.
Most Argiope hang their conspicuous webs in the open, although some species, such as A. keyserlingi, build mainly in dense, complex vegetation (see below).
Behaviour and ecology Web
Argiope build a characteristic orb web, usually with a stabilimentum (see below). The spiders are active by day and rest head-down at the centre of the web.