First records and DNA barcoding of Argiope trifasciata (Forsskål, 1775) (Araneae, Araneidae) in Greece

Abstract

Argiope trifasciata is a nearly cosmopolitan orb-weaver whose presence in Europe has been documented only in recent decades. Here, we report the first records of the species from Greece, based on a collected voucher specimen from Rhodes, which was morphologically and genetically examined, and additional citizen-science observations from Rhodes, Kos, and Crete. The Rhodes sequence was identical to the Cyprus sequence across the 611-bp COI alignment, and the two sequences were recovered together within the strongly supported Old World-associated Clade. These records fill a distributional gap between the western and eastern Mediterranean, correspond to projections in GLM-based species distribution modelling and extend the documented range of A. trifasciata in the region. Given the possibility of both natural dispersal and human-assisted transport, we treat A. trifasciata in Greece as a cryptogenic, recently expanding species.