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Parawixia audax

Parawixia audax


Family: Araneidae
Order: Araneae
Class: Arachnida
Phylum / Division: Arthropoda
Kingdom: Animalia

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Records from Avellaneda


Description


Belongs to the family Araneidae and is characterized by a pronounced sexual dimorphism. Adult females feature a body length ranging from 12 to 18 millimeters, while males are significantly smaller, measuring between 8 and 11 millimeters. The prosoma is typically dark brown to grayish in color, covered with a dense layer of whitish, fine setae. The abdomen (opisthosoma) has a distinctive subtriangular shape, marked by prominent humeral tubercles or "shoulders" on the anterior margin and smaller bumps toward the posterior end. Its dorsal coloration is highly variable and cryptic, displaying a mixture of gray, brown, and green hues that mimic tree bark, dead leaves, or lichens. On the ventral side, it exhibits a characteristic black patch outlined by light yellow or white. The legs are robust, armed with prominent spines, and exhibit a distinct pattern of dark and light alternating bands.

Geographical distribution: Is widely distributed across the Southern Cone of South America. It is commonly documented throughout central and northern Argentina, the entirety of Uruguay, southern and eastern Paraguay, and the southern and southeastern states of Brazil. It is highly adapted to the temperate and subtropical climates characteristic of these South American regions.

Habitat: Occurs in a diverse range of ecosystems, displaying a strong preference for woodlands, gallery forests, scrublands, and ecotones. It also shows a remarkable tolerance for anthropogenically altered environments, frequently colonizing urban gardens, public parks, orchards, and agricultural borders. It relies heavily on woody vegetation and shrub branches to secure its large webs and to find secure diurnal retreats.

Feeding: Is strictly insectivorous, functioning as an opportunistic generalist predator. Its diet consists of a wide variety of flying insects, such as moths, flies, wasps, beetles, and grasshoppers. It captures prey using a large, vertically oriented orb web spun with sticky silk. Once an insect strikes the web, the spider detects the vibrations, rushes to bite and paralyze the prey with venom, and then wraps it securely in silk for subsequent extraoral digestion.

Behavior: Exhibits predominantly nocturnal habits. During the daylight hours, it rests motionless in a diurnal retreat, which may consist of a curled leaf bound with silk or a flat position directly on tree bark, where its cryptic patterning makes it nearly impossible to spot. At dusk, it emerges to construct or repair its large, highly symmetrical orb web, which it often consumes at dawn to recycle the precious silk proteins. It is a non-aggressive species; when threatened, it typically drops to the ground and feigns death, a defense mechanism known as thanatosis.

Reproduction: Takes place primarily during the late summer and early autumn. Mating is a high-risk endeavor for the smaller male due to the threat of sexual cannibalism; to mitigate this risk, the male initiates courtship by vibrating the outer threads of the female´s web in a specific rhythmic pattern to signal his identity as a mate rather than prey. Following successful copulation, the female deposits her eggs inside a dense, woolly, yellowish-to-brownish silk egg sac (cocoon), which she carefully conceals under loose bark or within dense foliage. This sac protects the eggs from harsh winter conditions until the spiderlings emerge during the warm spring months.

Conservation status: Is currently not evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Given its vast geographical distribution, adaptability to disturbed landscapes, and stable population densities across its range, it is not considered to be facing any immediate threats of extinction.



Compilation and publication: EcoRegistros – 22/08/2026




Geographic distribution


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Species photographs

Last published photographs

Foto
Photography ID: 633105
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
05/02/2025
Diego Trillo
Foto
Photography ID: 632010
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
03/29/2025
Pablo Richter
Foto
Photography ID: 630995
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
04/13/2025
Diego Trillo
Foto
Photography ID: 629535
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
03/30/2025
Diego Trillo
Foto
Photography ID: 487485
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
03/27/2022
Eduardo Nadal
Foto
Photography ID: 487484
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
03/27/2022
Eduardo Nadal
Foto
Photography ID: 486598
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
03/12/2022
Diego Trillo
Foto
Photography ID: 483026
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
02/13/2022
Diego Trillo
Foto
Photography ID: 481379
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
01/29/2022
Diego Trillo
Foto
Photography ID: 445892
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
05/02/2021
Diego Trillo
Foto
Photography ID: 445891
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
05/02/2021
Diego Trillo
Foto
Photography ID: 443425
  Adult

Avellaneda
Buenos Aires
Argentina
04/25/2021
Diego Trillo



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 Detail of places sorted by number of records








Page 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
228333402/05/2025ArgentinaBuenos AiresEco Área Avellaneda, AvellanedaDiego Trillo
227423013/04/2025ArgentinaBuenos AiresEco Área Avellaneda, AvellanedaDiego Trillo
227009330/03/2025ArgentinaBuenos AiresEco Área Avellaneda, AvellanedaDiego Trillo
227904529/03/2025ArgentinaBuenos AiresEco Área Avellaneda, AvellanedaPablo Richter
156423427/03/2022ArgentinaBuenos AiresEco Área Avellaneda, AvellanedaEduardo Nadal
156423327/03/2022ArgentinaBuenos AiresEco Área Avellaneda, Avellaneda1Eduardo Nadal
156180912/03/2022ArgentinaBuenos AiresEco Área Avellaneda, AvellanedaDiego Trillo
154867913/02/2022ArgentinaBuenos AiresEco Área Avellaneda, AvellanedaDiego Trillo
154280529/01/2022ArgentinaBuenos AiresEco Área Avellaneda, AvellanedaDiego Trillo
140648502/05/2021ArgentinaBuenos AiresEco Área Avellaneda, AvellanedaDiego Trillo
Page 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Parawixia audax – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 20/09/2026.