Green Pea Spider

Araneus apricus

Also known as Araneus hairy field spiders. These spiders do not rest in the middle of their webs during daylight but rather build a retreat which is usually within a folded over leaf. The abdomen is generally soft and hairy and they usually have cryptic colouration helping them to blend in with their environment.
Green Pea Spider (juvenile) So lovely to find a spider that actually has a common name rather than just a Latin one, and what a lovely name!. This one has been on my Most Wanted list for some time and it certainly was not making it easy to get a photograph. Several days of hide and seek with me finally up a ladder, leaning into a prickly bush and I nabbed it! Normally these spiders have a bright green abdomen, but this is just a youngster so the colours have yet to develop. Suppose I shall have to keep an eye on it and hopefully get a photo of it in glorious adulthood! Araneus apricus,Fall,Geotagged,Green Pea Spider,South Africa,arachnids,araneidae,araneus,hairy field spiders,south africa,spiders

Appearance

6-7mm, carapace dark brown. Abdomen is round, soft and bright green.

Naming

Karsch 1884

Distribution

Warmer tropical regions of South Africa

Behavior

Make orb webs with a retreat to the side with a signal thread running to the centre of the web. During daylight hours will remain in the retreat.

Habitat

Vegetation

Food

Insects

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

The Field Guide to the Spiders of South Africa, Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman LAPA publishers 2014
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassArachnida
OrderAraneae
FamilyAraneidae
GenusAraneus
SpeciesAraneus apricus
Photographed in
South Africa