St. Andrew's Cross spider, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales, Australia.

In Australia, Argiope keyserlingi and A. aetherea are known as St. Andrew's Cross spiders, for their habit of resting in the web with legs outstretched in the shape of an X. The large white zigzag in the centre of its web is called the stabilimentum or web decoration. The genus Argiope includes spectacular spiders with a strikingly colored abdomen and is well distributed throughout the world in temperate or warmer climates. Photographed in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, 25 km north of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. Spiders have eight legs and are not insects. Spiders (order Araneae, class Arachnida) are air-breathing arthropods that have chelicerae, grasping mouthparts with fangs that inject venom. Unlike spiders, insects have six legs and a pair of antennae.

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Filename: 04AUS-10569_Saint-Andrews-Cross-spider.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
Image Size: 2836x3800 / 1.8MB; http://www.photoseek.com/; Animalia Arthropoda Australia South Pacific Southern Hemisphere animal invertebrate nature wildlife spider arachnid animal
Contained in galleries: AUSTRALIA: NSW: Sydney, Blue Mountains

In Australia, Argiope keyserlingi and A. aetherea are known as St. Andrew's Cross spiders, for their habit of resting in the web with legs outstretched in the shape of an X. The large white zigzag in the centre of its web is called the stabilimentum or web decoration. The genus Argiope includes spectacular spiders with a strikingly colored abdomen and is well distributed throughout the world in temperate or warmer climates. Photographed in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, 25 km north of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. Spiders have eight legs and are not insects. Spiders (order Araneae, class Arachnida) are air-breathing arthropods that have chelicerae, grasping mouthparts with fangs that inject venom. Unlike spiders, insects have six legs and a pair of antennae.