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Spider Identification


Guest The Pom Queen

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4 hours ago, The Pom Queen said:

Just found out it's a golden orb but they look different to the ones we had in Cairns which were black and yellow

There's quite a few different species of Orb spiders and folk (including myself) often mistakenly refer to any Orb as "golden". I've got 4 different kinds on my garden atm and the last one shown, although often referred to by it's name as St Andrews Cross Spider, is also an Orb

24132049646_9ed0241a84_b.jpgGolden Orb Spider by Kevin Dickinson, on Flickr

 

22780916241_6f121d5861_b.jpgGolden Orb Spider - Olympus em5 test by Kevin Dickinson, on Flickr

 

24523796886_fac5eb04dd_b.jpg1Z0A6334 by Kevin Dickinson, on Flickr

 

23923140033_95410b8801_b.jpg1Z0A6340 by Kevin Dickinson, on Flickr

 

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17 minutes ago, newjez said:

I always thought it was the legs that made the cross? Is it the web and the legs?

https://australianmuseum.net.au/image/St-Andrews-Cross-Spider-Argiope-keyserlingi/

My understanding is that it is based on the fact that the spider pairs both it's front and back legs together which it always positions on the spun cross when it is at rest, so an element of both I guess. The spun cross is also fluoro which attracts insects directly to where the spider is placed so it is also a lazy b@stard! :-)

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4 hours ago, Johndoe said:

My understanding is that it is based on the fact that the spider pairs both it's front and back legs together which it always positions on the spun cross when it is at rest, so an element of both I guess. The spun cross is also fluoro which attracts insects directly to where the spider is placed so it is also a lazy b@stard! :-)

Also, the spider unravels the spun cross to encase any larger insect, as with the photo I put up. Alas, I wiped all the other photos of the demise of the grasshopper. It was a very slow process and took about 2 hours for the grasshopper to be encased. I guess the spider must have had a few knots to untie...xD

Cheers, Bobj..

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  • 1 year later...

The top image on the page is a Golden Orb-weaver (Nephila edulis) as are a couple of Kevin's nice images. They are a different species than the huge tropical Golden Orb-weaver (Nephila pilipes) Bobj's post. There's also a pic of a Silver Orb-weaver (Leucauge granulata) the underside view  and the St Andrew's Cross (Argiope spp. - most likely keyserlingi, but hard to tell from underneath). The St Andrew's get their name from both leg orientation and silk cross - the silk decoration is called a stabilimentum - it's function is still being studied but may involve the reflection of UV and subsequent attraction of prey insects to the web. 

We've recently produced Australia's first spider ID app - Spidentify which you may find useful.

IMG_5460.PNG

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1 hour ago, starlight7 said:

Arrgh- I feel quite ill now.  Rather have snakes than those 'orrors. 

I don't mind spiders at all.  Snakes on the other hand     ..............................................................  :shocked:

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  • 1 year later...
  • 7 months later...
6 minutes ago, Quoll said:

Leaf curling spider - Phonognatha Graeffei  Pretty little thing isnt it?

 

Thanks for the identification Quoll! Here's the little guy giving a little wave for ya! It's too bad he's a little shy but it's quite cute 😄20200426_162450.thumb.jpg.1b8cec15a12229d05608083d90861dd0.jpg

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This is our Garden orb (officially verified by BobJ of course)  I posted on the other forum.

Totally different shape to what we expected from orb spiders

Right outside our front door, came with with a delightful head full of web one day.

Spider.jpg

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  • 5 months later...

I unfortunately had to put it out of it's miserly because it looked slow and in pain. I wish I didn't have to but didn't want it to suffer. I was also wondering what type of spiders this is? It is about 2cm in size and I've seen these around in my house and outside. They're quite beautiful and fierce as I sometimes see them scurrying around when I go for a snack at midnight.

20201025_022802.jpg

Edited by Kae_
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