Gasteracantha fornicata
Gasteracantha fornicata is a species of spiny orb-weavers found in Queensland Australia. It is similar in shape to Austracantha minax which was originally described as Gasteracantha minax. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775, the first Australian species of spider to be named and classified.
One of the synonyms of the species is Gasteracantha vittata, a name given to it by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1871. However, it was later discovered that Fabricius had described the species earlier, and according to taxonomic rules, the earlier name has precedence and is the only one that should be used. Also, there are other species that were identified G. vittata at times, namely G. irradiata, G. sanguinolenta and G. transversa, further complicating the issue.
