Golden orb spider - Argiope amoena

Japanese: コガネグモ(黄金蜘蛛) - コガネグモ（英語表記）Argiope amoena

A spider of the family Orbweaver. Females are large, 20-25 mm long, with thick yellow and black stripes on their abdomen, while males are small, 5-7 mm long, and black-brown in color. They inhabit all parts of Japan except Hokkaido. However, their numbers have recently decreased rapidly in urban areas. Outside of Japan, they are found in Taiwan, southern China, Hainan Island, and other areas. They stretch a large, disk-shaped web vertically to the ground, and string a white thread called an X-shaped crypt in the center of the web, on which they rest with two legs lined up on each side. They mature in July and August, and lay eggs in the middle of the night.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

コガネグモ科のクモ。雌は大きく体長20～25mmで，腹部に黄と黒の太い縞模様があるが，雄は小さく5～7mmで黒褐色。北海道を除く日本各地に生息している。しかし最近，都市近郊において数が急激に減少してきた。日本以外では台湾，中国南部，海南島などに分布する。円板状の大きい網を地面に対して垂直に張り，網の中央にX字状のかくれ帯という白い糸をつづり，これに足を2本ずつそろえて静止する。7～8月に成熟し，真夜中に産卵する。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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