Biology:Neoscona moreli
| Morel's Grass Neoscona Orb-Web Spider | |
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| Female | |
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| Male | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Araneidae |
| Genus: | Neoscona |
| Species: | N. moreli
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| Binomial name | |
| Neoscona moreli (Vinson, 1863)[1]
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| Synonyms | |
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Neoscona moreli is a species of spider in the family Araneidae.[2] It is commonly known as Morel's grass Neoscona orb-web spider.[3]
Distribution
Neoscona moreli has a very wide global distribution, known from the Afrotropical Region, Cuba, and Argentina. In Southern Africa, it is recorded from Botswana and South Africa.[3]
The species is found in all nine provinces of South Africa and occurs in more than ten protected areas at altitudes ranging from 12 to 2,020 m above sea level.[3]
Habitat and ecology
The species is a very common grassland species that makes its web at night and removes it early in the morning. It has been sampled from the Forest, Grassland, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, Nama Karoo, Savanna, and Thicket biomes. The species has also been sampled from avocado, pecans and pistachio orchards, and cotton, lucerne, maize and tomato fields.[3]
Description
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female -
female -
male -
male
Conservation
Neoscona moreli is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range. There are no known threats to the species. The species has been sampled in more than 10 protected areas including Mkambati Nature Reserve, Roodeplaatdam Nature Reserve, Makalali Nature Reserve, Polokwane Nature Reserve, Erfenis Dam Nature Reserve, and Mpetsane Conservation Estate.[3]
Taxonomy
The species was described by Vinson in 1863 from Réunion as Epeira morelii. It was revised by Grasshoff in 1986, who synonymized several species including Araneus lanuginosus, Neoscona neotheis, and N. seca.[4]
References
- ↑ Vinson, A. (1863). "Aranéides des îles de La Réunion, Maurice et Madagascar". Librairie Classique Eugène Belin, Paris: 337. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.125517.
- ↑ "Neoscona moreli (Vinson, 1863)". World Spider Catalog. https://wsc.nmbe.ch/species/4898. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N.; Webb, P. (2022). The Araneidae of South Africa. Version 2: part 3 (Ne-Z). South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. pp. 6-7. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6326991. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6326991. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
- ↑ Grasshoff, M. (1986). "Die Radnetzspinnen-Gattung Neoscona in Afrika (Arachnida: Araneae)". Annalen Zoologische Wetenschappen 250: 1-123.
Wikidata ☰ Q3242154 entry
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