About Neoscona byzanthina (Pavesi, 1876)
Neoscona byzanthina (Pavesi, 1876) exhibits a clear size difference between sexes: males reach a body length of approximately 5 mm (0.20 in), while females reach approximately 7 mm (0.28 in). Its cephalothorax, also called the prosoma, is yellowish or light beige, covered in fine white hairs, and marked with a dark brown longitudinal median stripe plus two lateral stripes. The opisthosoma is brown, and its dorsal pattern is quite variable. Most individuals show discontinuous brown bands with white markings bordered by brown lines. The epigyne hook is elongated and rounded. The legs are pale brown or yellowish with very dark ringed markings; specifically, the apical ends of the femurs are quite dark. This species is very similar to Neoscona adianta, but both the overall body size and genital size of Neoscona byzanthina are noticeably larger than those of Neoscona adianta. This species is distributed across France, Italy, Spain, southern European Russia, and Turkey. Its spiders primarily inhabit low bushes and herbs.
