Fishing Spiders belong to the Pisauridae family which includes the Nursery Web spiders. They are often mistaken for Wolf Spiders but can be distinguished by their colouring and number of eyes. Pisaurids have their eyes arranged in 2 rows, the posterior row slightly recurved, the median eyes in the second row slightly (if any) larger than the […]
White Tailed Spider
The White Tailed Spider (Lampona cylindrata) is about the size of a 50c piece when fully grown, with a leg diameter about the size of a pin. It has a grey cigar-shaped abdomen with a white spot on the end and sometimes the legs are banded with light traverse marks on the abdomen. These markings […]
Golden Silk Orb Weaver
Here’s some photos of Golden Silk Orb Weavers. In the US they call this nephila species Golden Silk Weavers and call the Black and Yellow Argiope a golden orb weaver, which is a bit confusing. In Australia they are called just Golden Orb Weavers. Golden silk orb weavers were moved from the Araneidae family (orbweavers) into […]
Michael Doe Spider Closeup Photos
I came across some beautiful closeups on Facebook from Michael Doe in Australia, who has given me permission to share some of his wonderful spider photos. Click each image for a larger view. Many thanks for allowing me to use these photos. All photos are copyright to their owner and may not be reproduced without permission. First slide show […]
Net Casting Spider
The Net Casting spider lives in the warmer parts of USA, Central and South America, Africa and Australia and is sometimes called the Ogre Faced spider or Stick Spider. It is quite large – its body length is about 20mm, and with its legs stretched out, it is about 4 times that length. They have […]
Leaf Curling Spider – Phonognatha graeffei
The leaf-curling spider, Phonognatha graeffei, is commonly found throughout southern Australia in open woodland and forest habitats as well as urban gardens. It normally uses a leaf in the centre of the web for protection, mainly from birds, but many other objects may be used as a shelter in the web including snail shells and […]
Tarantula
A Tarantula is a hairy, long-legged, long-lived spider found mostly in warm regions. Also sometimes known as Bird Spiders or Monkey Spiders, true Tarantulas make up the family Theraphosidae; related forms, including Funnel-web Spiders and Trap door Spiders, are also sometimes grouped as Tarantulas. Many species are about 2.5 to 7.5 cm (1 to 3 […]
Spitting Spider
The Spitting Spider (Latin name Scytodes thoricica) belongs to the family of six eyed spiders. (Haplogynae). It is called the “Spitting Spider” because it spits a poisonous sticky substance over its prey. Its body size ranges between 3 and 6 mm. Habitat: This spider lives in New Mexico which is in North America. Prey: The […]
Portia Spider
The Portia group of spiders contains 15 species of African, Asian and Australian jumping spiders measuring up to 10 millimetres or 0.39 inches. Odd in appearance, it resembles a scrap of vegetation. Rather than scurrying about like other jumping spiders, the Portia has slow, choppy gait, much like robots in science fiction movies. The Portia is […]
Widow Spider
Black Widow is a common name of some spiders in the genus Latrodectus which belong to the spider family Theridiidae, or the cobweb weavers. The North American species are (Western) Black widow, Latrodectus hesperus; (Southern) Black widow, Latrodectus mactans; (Northern) Black widow, Latrodectus variolus. Spiders of the genus Steatoda also belong to the spider family Theridiidae and are often confused with the […]