{"id":1336,"date":"2019-02-27T03:45:20","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T03:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/?page_id=1336"},"modified":"2021-03-24T06:03:03","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T06:03:03","slug":"spiders","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/?page_id=1336","title":{"rendered":"Spiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

A collection of spiders from Capertee Valley, NSW.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Huntsman spiders:<\/h2>\n

Holconia insignis <\/strong><\/em>(Sparassidae family)<\/strong> – These whopping stripy spiders come inside my house in summer and hide behind pictures and calendars.\u00a0 For a size reference, this male was photographed with a ruler and would be 17 cm across.<\/p>\n

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\"\"male Holconia insignis, <\/em>17 cm across, emerging from behind a picture frame, 2 February 2019.<\/p>\n

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female Holconia insignis<\/em>, note smaller palps and larger body compared to male, this one was about 12 cm across.\u00a0 27 February 2019.<\/p>\n

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Web Dasher spiders:<\/h2>\n

Corasoides<\/em> species, Desidae family – <\/strong>It has taken me 20 years to work out what animal makes these webs on the ground!\u00a0 The webs are noticeable only after a heavy dew and only at certain times of the year.\u00a0 I had even wondered if they were caterpillar nests, before eventually photographing a spider occupant. (Photos taken after rain, 27 August 2018).<\/p>\n

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Look closely to see a hole in the middle of each web, which leads to a tunnel in the ground where the spider lives.\u00a0 The following diagram from the Australian Museum shows the structure of these webs.\u00a0 When a small insect lands on the web platform, the spider dashes out to grab it.<\/p>\n

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Female Corasoides<\/em> species near the entrance to her burrow, 30 August 2018.\u00a0 Body length 5 mm.<\/p>\n

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Wolf Spiders<\/h2>\n

The Australian Arachnid group on Facebook could not identify this species nor genus.\u00a0 So it is Lycosidae family<\/strong>, unknown species, a wolf spider of the type that makes a lid for its burrow, (not all wolf spiders have lidded burrows). Wolf spiders have 360 degree sight due to having 4 eyes encircling the head, with another 4 eyes at the front.\u00a0 They are not poisonous.\u00a0 The burrow was 1 cm diameter.\u00a0 I photographed this female at her burrow entrance, 1 September 2018.<\/p>\n

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Trapdoor spiders<\/h2>\n

Arbantis<\/em> species, Idiopidae family<\/strong> – I’ve seen these holes in the ground for many years and always wondered what lived within.\u00a0 Eventually I saw a scary-looking dark brown spider tidying up the webby entrance to her burrow.\u00a0 Despite the name, not all trapdoor species have a door on their burrow, and mine does not.\u00a0 This species can inflict a painful bite but are not poisonous.\u00a0 Some trapdoor species can live for over 40 years.\u00a0 I photographed this female 21 October 2018.\u00a0 The burrow entrance was 2 cm in diameter.<\/p>\n

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Jumping and Peacock Spiders<\/h2>\n

Maratus plumosus<\/em> Plumed Peacock Spider, Salticidae family (Jumping Spiders) – <\/strong>The tiny Maratus<\/em> spiders have been in the news a bit lately, with claims that even arachnaphobes will love them.\u00a0 The prettily patterned males do a display dance to attract females, who may either then eat them, or mate with them.\u00a0 Body length is about 5 mm, way too small to ever bite a human.\u00a0 I was delighted to find some Maratus<\/em> on my dry woodland property.\u00a0 This one is a male, photographed in October 2016.<\/p>\n

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Hypoblemum villosum<\/em> (Shaggy or Red-headed House Hopper), Salticidae family of Jumping Spiders<\/strong> – This female I found hopping around on river stones along Coco Creek.\u00a0 She had lots of friends, including a more strongly coloured red-headed male.\u00a0 The pattern on the female made me think of Fair Isle jumpers.\u00a0 Tiny size, maybe 5 mm.\u00a0 October 2016.<\/p>\n

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Jotus<\/em> species, Salticidae family of Jumping Spiders<\/strong><\/p>\n

I found this tiny female Jotus<\/em> sp in my kitchen, 20 April 2019.<\/p>\n

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Orb-weaving Spiders<\/h2>\n

Argiope keyserlingi<\/strong><\/em>, St Andrew’s Cross Spider, family Araneinae<\/strong>.\u00a0 I photographed this beautifully-coloured, 7-legged specimen near Coco Creek, 27 January 2008.\u00a0 There are many variations of this type of spider.<\/p>\n

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Backobourki<\/strong>a heroine or brounii<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 – Another orb-weaver, and what a wonderful name!\u00a0 This fearsome-looking spider built a messy web and had even messier living quarters.\u00a0 Photographed 25 October 2015, this large female was eating a native bee.<\/p>\n

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Austracantha\u00a0<\/i>minax,\u00a0<\/i>A<\/span>ustralian Christmas Jewel Spider\u00a0 – Gasteracanthinae Spiny Orb-weaver family.<\/strong> \u00a0This tiny spider is plump and round with colourful dots and splodges and six spines on its back. \u00a0It is hard to tell the front from the back! \u00a0Top view facing upwards, and underside view. \u00a0This one is a female. \u00a0(The male is smaller, darker and has no spines.) \u00a0Photographed near Coco Creek, 14 May 2020.<\/p>\n

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Plebs\u00a0<\/i>eburnus<\/i>,\u00a0<\/i>Eastern Enamelled<\/span>\u00a0Spider or Bush Orb Weaver.<\/strong>\u00a0 I found this small spider in its web, low to the ground. \u00a0There are distinct patterns on the underside and the top of the abdomen. \u00a0The web has vertical ‘stabilimentum’ which are the white zigzag lines in the orb web. \u00a0This spider is a female and was photographed in nearby bushland, 5 September 2020.<\/p>\n

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Phonognatha graeffei<\/i>,\u00a0<\/i>Leaf Curling Spider<\/span>. \u00a0<\/strong>Usually hidden inside the leaf, this small spider, a female, made a rare appearance to do some housework. \u00a0The male may co-habit, living\u00a0at the other end of\u00a0the same leaf. \u00a0There are lots of these about at the moment, after a mild and rainy summer. \u00a0Photographed 24 March 2021.<\/p>\n

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Comb-footed Spiders<\/h2>\n

Ariamnes colubrinus,<\/em> <\/strong>Whip Spider, <\/strong>Theridiidae family<\/strong><\/p>\n

We found this peculiar-looking spider along Coco Creek on a Nature Conservation Trust walk, November 2012.\u00a0 Tiff had thought it was a long-jawed spider, but it turned out to be a Whip Spider.<\/p>\n

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Ant-eating spiders:<\/h2>\n

Habronestes<\/em> species, Zodariidae family – <\/strong>This small fast-running ground spider is an ant-mimic that eats ants.\u00a0 It was about the size of a meat ant or perhaps a bit bigger and had yellow spots on its abdomen.\u00a0 I was lucky to get a sharp photo!\u00a0 1 April 2019.<\/p>\n

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Crab Spiders:<\/h2>\n

Tharpyna<\/em> species, Thomisidae family – <\/strong>So-called because they can run sideways, crab spiders are many and diverse and some of them can even change colour if they are waiting on a flower to ambush their prey.\u00a0 They all have eight eyes in two rows of four.\u00a0 This Tharpyna<\/em> sp. was on a window pane of my house, and its large palps indicate it is a male.\u00a0 Body length was less than 10 mm.\u00a0 30 September 2019.<\/p>\n

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Swift\u00a0spiders:<\/h2>\n

Nyssus coloripes<\/em>, Corinnidae\u00a0family –\u00a0<\/strong>small to medium sized spiders, and very fast runners! \u00a0This one was on my back verandah, pausing, running, pausing. \u00a0It was hard to get a photo! \u00a0About the size of a ten cent piece, including legs. \u00a01 April, 2020.<\/p>\n

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Prowling\u00a0spiders:<\/h2>\n

Miturga gilva<\/em>, Miturgidae\u00a0family – \u00a0<\/strong>spiders in this family\u00a0shelter under logs and rocks and prowl about at night. \u00a0This particular species makes tough, densely woven silk retreats which may hold a single egg sac which is then guarded. \u00a0Eyes form two straight rows of tiny dots. \u00a0I was moving some rocks when I found this one, and coaxed it out of the web with a grass stem. \u00a0This female is missing two of its legs, with body length about 16 mm.<\/p>\n

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Another in the same family is a much smaller spider, Argoctenus sp.<\/strong><\/em> \u00a0It has striped legs that look like pipe cleaners.<\/p>\n

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Acknowledgments: Thanks to the Australian Arachnid facebook group for help with identifications.\u00a0 The book A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia<\/em> by Robert Whyte and Greg Anderson (2017) made a useful follow-up.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A collection of spiders from Capertee Valley, NSW. Huntsman spiders: Holconia insignis (Sparassidae family) – These whopping stripy spiders come inside my house in summer and hide behind pictures and calendars.\u00a0 For a size reference, this male was photographed with … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":26,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1336","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1336"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1877,"href":"https:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1336\/revisions\/1877"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caperteebirder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}