Few spider species show truly cosmopolitan distributions. Among them is the banded garden spider Argiope trifasciata, which is reported from six continents across major climatic gradients and geographical boundaries. In orb-weaver spiders, such global distributions might be a result of lively dispersal via ballooning. However, wide distributions might also be artefactual, owing to our limited understanding of species taxonomy. To test the hypothesis that A. trifasciata might be a complex of cryptic species with more limited geographical ranges, we investigated the biogeographical structure and evolutionary history of A. trifasciata through a combination of time-calibrated phylogenetic analyses (57 terminals and three genes), ancestral range reconstruction and species delimitation methods. Our results strongly suggest that A. trifasciata as currently defined is not a single species. Its populations fall into five reciprocally monophyletic clades that are genetically distinct and have evolutionary origins in the Plio-Pleistocene. These clades are confined to East Asia, temperate Australia, Hawaii, the New World and the Old World (Africa and most of the Palaearctic). Our results provide the basis for future investigation of morphological and/or ecological disparity between the populations that are likely to represent species, in addition to examinations of the attributes and dispersal modes of these species.

中文翻译：

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'世界主义的'天体织布工Argiope trifasciata的系统志（Araneae：Araneidae）

几乎没有蜘蛛物种显示出真正的世界性分布。其中有带状的花园蜘蛛Argiope trifasciata，据报道来自六大洲的主要气候梯度和地理边界。在球形编织蜘蛛中，这种全球分布可能是由于气球膨胀而散布的结果。但是，由于我们对物种分类学的了解有限，因此分布广泛也可能是人工的。为了验证假单胞菌可能是复杂物种的复杂地理范围的假说，我们调查了假单胞菌的生物地理结构和进化史。通过时间校准的系统发育分析（57个末端和三个基因），祖传范围重建和物种定界方法的组合。我们的结果强烈表明，目前定义的黑曲霉不是单个物种。它的种群分为五个互惠的单系进化枝，这些进化枝在遗传上是不同的，并且起源于上新世。这些进化枝仅限于东亚，温带的澳大利亚，夏威夷，新世界和旧世界（非洲和古北半球大部分地区）。我们的研究结果为进一步调查可能代表物种的种群之间的形态和/或生态差异提供了基础，此外还检查了这些物种的属性和传播方式。