Geratonephila
| Geratonephila Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian), | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The amber which shows Geratonephila attacking a wasp (Cascoscelio incassus) in its web | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Nephilidae |
| Genus: | †Geratonephila |
| Species: | †G. burmanica |
| Binomial name | |
| †Geratonephila burmanica Poinar, 2012 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Nephila burmanica | |
Geratonephila is a genus of spider in the family Nephilidae that lived around 100 million years ago during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous Epoch. This genus contains one species, Geratonephila burmanica.[1]
It was discovered in Burmese amber. The amber it was in shows it attacking a species of wasp (Cascoscelio incassus, family Platygastridae) in its web. This shows direct fossil evidence of predatory behavior in this extinct genus of spider. It is the only specimen preserving such behavior.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Poinar Jr., George; Buckley, Ron (2012-10-01). "Predatory behaviour of the social orb-weaver spider, Geratonephila burmanica n. gen., n. sp. (Araneae: Nephilidae) with its wasp prey, Cascoscelio incassus n. gen., n. sp. (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) in Early Cretaceous Burmese amber". Historical Biology. 24 (5): 519–525. Bibcode:2012HBio...24..519P. doi:10.1080/08912963.2011.640399. ISSN 0891-2963.