eTawau > Spiders of Borneo > Web-building spiders > Araneidae > Argiope > Argiope reinwardti

Argiope reinwardti (Doleschall, 1859)

A dark orb-weaver of the Kinabalu range: three cream bands across an angular black-brown abdomen, and dark red legs

A female Argiope reinwardti at the hub of her web, seen from behind: an angular dark brown abdomen crossed by three cream-white bands, a reddish carapace and long dark red legs held in pairs.
The 2026 female at the AKI Backpackers inn, 100 m from the entrance of Kinabalu Park, 21 October 2026, 11:51.
Classification
Order Araneae · Family Araneidae (orb-weavers) · Genus Argiope · Species Argiope reinwardti (Doleschall, 1859)
Distribution
"Malaysia to New Guinea" (World Spider Catalog)
Records on this site
Four, all females, all from the Kinabalu area of Sabah: 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2026. No male has been recorded here.
Size
About 21 mm (the photographer's figure for the 2011 and 2016 females); the 2026 female about 20 mm, estimated from the photographs.

How to recognise it

Every female on this page shows the same pattern, from 2011 to 2026. The species name of the 2026 female was confirmed by identifiers on iNaturalist (observation 410304613).

Records

Record 4 · 21 October 2026 · AKI Backpackers inn, Kinabalu Park NEW

A female beside the solar lamp

The spider small at the hub of her orb web, with a white zig-zag band below her, in front of the inn building.
11:51:44, at the hub, the zig-zag band below.
The spider from the underside: black with thin yellow lines, legs dark red; white zig-zag bands above and below her.
11:50:27, the underside; zig-zag above and below.
A strip of 2 mm graph paper caught in the web beside the white zig-zag band; the spider has left the hub.
11:58:23, 2 mm graph paper in the web, used as the scale.
Close view of the abdomen: three cream bands with fine dark speckles on dark brown, and a reddish carapace.
11:51:56, close view of the bands.
DateWednesday 21 October 2026, 11:50–11:58 (camera clock)
PlaceAKI Backpackers inn, about 100 m from the entrance of Kinabalu Park, Sabah. The inn borders the park's protected forest.
WebOutdoors, beside a solar-powered lamp post; a white zig-zag band (stabilimentum) ran straight up and down from the hub
NumberOne female; no male on the web
SizeAbout 20 mm (roughly 19–22 mm), estimated from the photographs: see below
CameraPanasonic DMC-LX5
ObserverWong Fook Yee
iNaturalistobservation 410304613

A good place for a web. The solar lamp comes on every night, and its light draws flying insects from the nearby Kinabalu forest. Beside the lamp post this female is never short of food. She stayed at the hub the whole day. Several smaller Argiope spiders lived at the same corner of the inn; they were not photographed.

What she did. The first time the photographer came too close, she dropped from the web to the ground. Half an hour later she was back at the centre of the web. The second time, she moved to the side of the web and shook the whole web with her legs for many seconds, until he stepped away.

How the size was estimated. In the photograph with the graph paper, the bold lines (10 mm apart) are about 235 pixels apart, about 23.6 pixels to the millimetre. On that scale the lower arm of the zig-zag band is about 33 mm long. In two photographs of the spider at the hub, her body is 0.60 and 0.66 of the length of the same arm, which gives about 20 and 22 mm. The paper may not hang exactly in the plane of the web, so the figure is an estimate.

Record 3 · 22 January 2016 · Kinabalu Lodge, Haleluyah Retreat Centre

A female of 21 mm, photographed from above and below

Two views of the same female on a blue background: from above, the dark abdomen with three cream bands; from below, black with yellow lines. Labelled 2016-01-22 Fri 17:25 Kinabalu Lodge, female, 21 mm.
17:25, upper side and underside.
The female from above on a pale background: angular dark abdomen with three cream bands speckled dark, reddish carapace, dark legs.
16:42, from above.

Female, 21 mm. Photographed with a Panasonic DMC-LX5 at 16:41–16:42 and a Canon PowerShot A480 at 17:25.

Record 2 · 12 May 2014 · Haleluyah Retreat Centre ("Haleluya")

A female at the hub

A female from behind at the hub of her web, with the bright sky behind: dark abdomen with three yellowish-cream bands, reddish carapace and legs.
09:47, from behind at the hub.
A view of the Haleluyah Retreat Centre: buildings among pine trees and yellow flowers below green hills, with a round inset of the spider.
The Haleluyah Retreat Centre. The photographer's caption: "This species of Argiope is common on this mountain range."

Female; size not recorded. Panasonic DMC-LX5.

Record 1 · 31 August 2011 · Kinabalu National Park

The first record: a female on a wooden deck

Close view of a female from above on grey boards: reddish carapace, angular black abdomen with three white bands.
10:01, close view.
Close view of the same female from above among forest greenery: white bands on the black abdomen, reddish legs.
09:53, among the leaves.

Female, 21 mm. Photographed at 09:52–10:01 with a Canon PowerShot A480 and a Panasonic DMC-F2.

Related pages

Photographs © Wong Fook Yee. Dates and times from the cameras; places, sizes before 2026 and the account of 2026 are the photographer's own. Species and distribution: World Spider Catalog (Natural History Museum Bern), Argiope reinwardti; 2026 identification confirmed on iNaturalist. Page rewritten 24 October 2026 from the 2016 page, with record 4 added.