Morphology and Genetic Diversity of Golden Silk Orb-weaver (<i>Nephila</i>) Spiders in Thailand.

ABSTRACT: Spiders play a pivotal role in ecosystems, serving as predators to regulate populations of small organisms. They commonly exhibit body color polymorphism which could be due to a combination of environmental factors, adaptation, or genetic drift from population subdivision. This polymorphism, in turn, could affect their behavior and prey capture efficiency. Certain morphological traits may be unique to specific subregions, suggesting possible subspecies classification. In this study, we examined morphological polymorphism in the giant wood spider, Nephila pilipes, in Thailand, particularly focusing on leg variation and genetic variation at the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene. We used partial sequence of the COI gene for our samples and constructed a phylogeneti

SUBMITTER: Lertkulvanich F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12854857 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature