Genus of spiders
Micrathena, known as spiny orbweavers, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. "Micrathena" contains more than a hundred species, most of them Neotropical woodland-dwelling species. The name is derived from the Greek "micro", meaning "small", and the goddess Athena.
Species with extremely long spines evolved at least eight times in the genus "Micrathena" and likely function as anti-predator defenses. "Gasteracantha" orb-weavers also have hardened abdomens with variously shaped spines, but they are not closely related to "Micrathena" within the orb-weaver family.
These spiders are active during the daytime and build vertical orb webs. Unlike many other orb-weavers, members of "Micrathena" bite their prey before wrapping it. When laying eggs, females will place the egg sac on vegetation near the web.
Species.
As of  2019[ [update]] the genus "Micrathena" contains 119 species:
In North America.
Although the genus includes over a hundred species, only four are found in the United States and Canada. Among those four species, female spined micrathena ("Micrathena gracilis") have five pairs of conical tubercles, female "M. mitrata" have two short posterior pairs, and female arrow-shaped micrathena ("M. sagittata") have three pairs. Only two species are recorded from Canada, being "M. sagittata", found primarily in the Pinery Provincial Park, and "M. gracilis", which is more widespread.
References.
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