Cyclosa conica is a small spider with no common name. It is an orb weaver, and it is easily recognized by the way it strings together the dead bodies of insects and other debris and hangs it near the centre of its web. It hides on this string of debris, and its natural coloration makes it […]
Barn Funnel Weaver
Disclaimer: Tegenaria are very hard to tell apart and I am not at all certain that all the IDs on the tegenaria pages are correct. I have done the best I can to try and classify them correctly but would be happy for anyone to tell me if they believe otherwise – glen The spider species Tegenaria domestica, commonly known […]
Micrathena Orb Weaver
The spider genus Micrathena contains more than hundred species, most of them Neotropical woodland orb-weavers. Only three species occur in the eastern United States: females of M. gracilis (the Spined Micrathena) have five pairs of conical tubercles on the abdomen, female M. mitrata have two short posterior pairs, and female M. sagittata (the Arrow-shaped Micrathena) have three pairs. Micrathena sagittata is found in the […]
Net Casting Spider – Deinopidae
Deinopidae, also known as Net Casting spiders or Ogre Faced spiders, is a family of cribellate spiders first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1850. It consists of stick-like elongate spiders that catch prey by stretching a web across their front legs before propelling themselves forward.The Net Casting spider lives in the warmer parts […]
Ladybird Spider
Ladybird spiders belong to the Eresus species which is a genus of velvet spiders comprising several species, including Eresus cinnaberinus (formerly E. niger) and Eresus sandaliatus, both of which are sometimes known as the “Ladybird spider”. They are mostly found in Eastern and Northern Europe (Info: Wikipedia) Eresus cinnaberinus (formerly Eresus niger) is native to Europe. The taxon “Eresus cinnaberinus” is considered a nomen dubium, the specimens having been divided […]
Brown Recluse Spider
Spiders in the genus Loxoceles belong to a unique family known as the six-eyed sicariid spiders. These spiders all have 6 eyes (rather than the normal 8) that are arranged in a horseshoe pattern in 3 clusters of 2 eyes each. The family not only contains the genus Loxoceles, but also the six-eye crab spiders (genus Sicarius) of […]
Araneus Transmarinus Orb Weaver
The Araneus spider is a member of the orb weaving garden spiders. The scientific name for this spider is Araneus transmarinus. There are many kinds of Araneus in Australia. The size of this spider can be 4 mm to 26 mm in length. This spider usually has a round, plump body with two rounded points on the shoulders. […]
Fishing Spiders – Dolomedes
Fishing Spiders belong to the family Pisauridae ( nursery web and fishing spiders ) and are closely related to Lycosidae ( wolf spiders ) and Ctenidae ( wandering spiders ), counting about 500 different species from all over the world. The famous genus, Pisaura and Dolomedes, the so-called raft or fishing spiders, are very similar in morphology […]
Purse Web Spider
Purse Web Spiders (Atypus) belong to the sub-order Orthognatha (Mygalomorphae) or primitive spiders and are recognised by their large fangs. Their size varies between 10 and 15 mm. In Europe only two members of this sub-order can be found. In Australia 13% of the spiders belong to the Mygalomorphae. Purse Web spider go back 360 million […]
Steatoda / False Widow Spider
Spiders of the genus Steatoda belong to the spider family Theridiidae, or the cobweb weavers. Also known as Combfooted Spiders, this family includes a number of well known arachnids, including the American house spider, Parasteatoda tepidariorum, and the redback and widow spiders, Latrodectus spp.. Steatoda spiders are found throughout the world, in both temperate and tropical climates. They are small to moderately small […]
