About Argiope anasuja Thorell, 1887
Females of Argiope anasuja are approximately 8 to 12 mm long, while males are between 3.5 and 4.5 mm long. The cephalothorax is greyish brown and covered in hairs. The sternum is heart-shaped, with a hairy, pubescent white patch. The palps have spines. The legs are greyish brown, hairy, and have yellowish coloring on the dorsal side of the femora. The abdomen is pentagonal and hairy. The dorsal side of the abdomen is yellowish with brown transverse bands, and three distinct pairs of sigilla are present. The ventral side is dark brownish with two longitudinal white patches. Like other species in the same genus, Argiope anasuja is called a "signature spider". It builds an orb web that includes a zig-zag stabilimentum that somewhat resembles letters. Mature females always rest at the center of their orb web with their head facing downward. The orb has an opening at its center; when disturbed, the spider passes through this hole to exit onto the other side of the web's plane. This species is commonly found on plants in the Mimosaceae family, and prefers to place its web in a shaded plane during daylight hours. Males are smaller than females. A male spins a smaller companion web around the female's web. After mating, as occurs in many other common spiders, the female kills the male. The female lays her eggs on the companion web and wraps them into an egg sac. Spiderlings cannibalize each other inside the sac until the strongest spiderling breaks through the sac wall. An egg sac can hold between 400 and 1,400 eggs.
