More WA Spiders

Some people hate them and some love them but most of us are in the middle somewhere and are fascinated by the way spiders spin their webs or hunt their food. Come along with us and see the spiders we have met on our travels. We are not sure which spiders have been introduced to Western Australia as there are very few references on Western Australian spiders and more species are still being discovered and named. We apologise for any misnamed spiders.

Never play with spiders!

Spiders are Arachnids they have two body parts.
The head and thorax are combined as one unit. It holds the mouthparts, eyes and legs.
The abdomen is the second body part which holds the breathing or respiratory openings, the reproductive and digestive systems and the spinnerets. The two body parts are connected by a tube or pedicel.
Arachnids are arthropods.

Bookmark this site and return often as we add many more spiders found over this state. We do not collect the spiders but photograph them where they are found as they run away.

Please go to SPIDERS PAGE TWO | SPIDERS PAGE THREE | SPIDERS PAGE FOUR

SPIDERS IN THE NIGHT to see more Western Australian spiders.

Spiders have:

This jumping spider was seen active in the day on a walk in a Jarrah forest on Nanga Rd near Collie.

When males are trying to attract a mate they wave their pedipalps and move around to show off their colours.

This jumping spider was found in Leeming Perth in October.

Females stay with the white egg-sac in a silk shelter.

This one has white front palps and was found in Dryandra in October in the day.

Go here to learn more about jumping spiders

This is another tiny jumping spider found on a flowering gum tree in Willetton Perth in December. It is facing front on and had a red shimmery appearance.

This quick little jumping spider was seen at Cardup Nature Reserve in late February.

This is a common jumping spider found here in Perth. This was in my hospital with the injured animals. When it leapt away to escape it used its silk thread attached to the abdomen like a life line.

This jumping spider was found in a Grass Tree near Baldivis south of Perth in June.

This Jumping spider was photographed at Kalamunda National Park Perth in September where we saw six of these spiders on that walk.

This jumping spider was seen at the Porongurups in the Great southern region in November.

These three jumping spiders were all seen at Kennedy Ranges in the Gascoyne in December. >>>>>>>

They were all found within a metre of each other near the top of a range on rocks.

Go to our HOTSPOTS section to see a lot more about the Kennedy Ranges.

They were so well camouflaged!

I nearly walked into this huge spider while looking on the ground for fungi at Yanchep National Park. What you are seeing when you run your mouse over the picture is the underneath of this spider.

This photograph was taken at Thomson Lake where dozens of these large Banded Orb spiders were around the lakes edge in February when the lake had dried out.
The female remains in her web day and night. Click on the picture to see it larger.

This large hairy spider was seen at Mt Matilda, Wongan Hills in the wheatbelt on December 19.

This beautiful spider was seen at close range as I nearly put my hand on it climbing along Fern Pool at Karijini National Park in the Pilbara in December. Click to see this photo larger.

This Goldern Orb spider seen at Boyagin Rock in the wheatbelt had lots of little dead parcels all stacked up. There were also four males in the large web.

Here is a female Golden Orb spider with the very small males at the top. This photograph was taken at the Murchison Road House 300km from anywhere in the Pilbara in August.

Leaf Curling Spider
Genus Phonognatha

This is a Leaf Curling spider and they are in the Orb Weaving family.

This is a leaf curled around by the Leaf Curling Spider. The spider is hidden inside. This clever spider hangs its eggs in a curled leaf and dangles it from its web which looks just like any other dead leaf fallen from a tree into the web.

Bird Poo Spider or Death's Head Spider

family Argiopidae

Here's a photograph of a Bird Poo spider found on a leaf in my yard in December. See how close they tuck up their legs when resting during the day.
These spiders look like bird droppings on a leaf or branch so that they can camouflage and not be eaten by birds while sleeping.
At night the spider hangs down with its front legs ready to seize a passing moth, it then bites it, then wraps it, then eats it.
The egg-sacs are round, brown and quite large. The female guards the egg-sacs.
The young may build a orb web to catch its prey but once it is an adult it will ambush its prey.

Go here to learn more about this spider

St. Andrew Cross Spiders
family Araneidae
A St Andrew Cross spider is an orb weaving spider. It rests on thickened silk in the web.
The females abdomen of this species of spider is usually striped yellow, red, black and white and the legs have bands of colour. The male is plain red-brown.
They build their webs 1-2 metres from the ground (just high enough to go face first into one).

Go here to see more photographs of St Andrew Cross spider http://www.austmus.gov.au/
factsheets/st_andrews_cross.htm

and Orb Weavers
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/
australian/araneidae/araneidae.html

and here
http://www.museum..vic.gov.au/spiders/gorb.html

This is a Christmas spider seen with many dozens of other Christmas spiders over low bushes at Thomson Lake in Perth in February.

This is the spikes on the Christmas spider magnified 60x.

This Christmas spider was photographed at Julimar National Park, north east of Perth in October. We have also seen them in the Serpentine area, Kalbarri, Tutanning Nature Reserve wheatbelt, Lake Joondalup Perth and Neerabup Nature Reserve north of Perth.

Redback spiders are found in all states of Australia. The female is approx 10mm long and the male a tiny 3mm long. The female is extremely toxic but the smaller male that looks nothing like the female is harmless. I have never found this spider to be aggressive as we have many around the yard and a few in the house in clothing and shoes (we just had one in our washing off the line this week). Redback builds a messy unstructured web under tin sheeting, gaps in fences, under the outdoor plastic chairs, in outside dunnies (outside toilet), anywhere really where they think they wont be too disturbed.

Redbacks hunt at night but stay hidden away in the day.

This is the underneath of the Redbacks abdomen. You can see at the back a previous exoskeleton that the spider grew to big for.

Don't forget to check under the toilet seat!
Redback spiders feed on insects and other small arthropods and even small lizards. Several egg sacs are hung in the web, each sac can contain a hundred eggs.

There is an antivenin used by doctors if someone is bitten so very few people have died from this spider in the last 50 years. Apparently farmers who have been bitten many times can build up a resistance and suffer no effects from the spider venom.
Go here to learn more about these spiders

and here
and here

How is spiders silk made?

The silk is a thick liquid inside their bodies, which has protein. When they want to use it they squeeze it out from their spinnerets and as soon as the silk hits the air the silk dries or hardens into a line like a strand of hair.

What is their silk made for?

Webs, lining their burrows if they are a ground spider, sacs for their eggs and to anchor themselves so they don’t drift off too far in the wind and to allow them to jump away from danger.

Why is the spiders silk so strong?

It is as strong as steel for its size. But what makes it so strong is its ability to stretch or give to the movement of the wind or insects banging into it.

How do spiders avoid getting caught in their own webs?

The very ends of their legs are oily which allows them to walk over their own web and not get stuck. Some spiders also add into their web areas that are not sticky and they remember where these are and step there. Sometimes though they can get caught in their own web or in the web of another spider and sometimes they end up as the main meal.

This was seen at Darling Range Regional Park in Kelmscott in October

Sometimes all you can see is the web, but you know there must be a spider in there somewhere.

This web was often seen on this tree but I was unable to find who lived there. This was seen at Rottnest Island in March.

This white spider web was tucked away in a spiky bush. It was very tightly woven and was seen at Signal Hill in Perth in October.

This spider web was seen at Jandakot in Perth in October.

This spider web was seen several times along the roadside driving through Boyagin Nature Reserve in the wheatbelt. No spider was seen.

This could possibly be a trapdoor spider hole but many insects may either emerge from their pupa or live in the ground. This hole was seen at Lesmurdie, Perth.

Here is a web of a jumping spider.

I am pretty sure I could see spider legs down in this hole. There were a few of these holes along the track at the Monadnocks Nature Reserve on Albany Hwy in February.

Net Casting Spiders or Stick Spiders Family Deinopidae

They look similar to pieces of dry sticks because of their long legs and because they hang from a tree during the night in wait for something to come along. They prepare a sticky net of web which they hold between their two pairs of front legs and open the net to catch prey passing by.
Egg-sacs are attached to rocks or on low plants and are guarded by the female.
If the net is damaged due to catching dinner then the spider will eat the net. If its not damaged the spider will use it again.
Check your local library for this video called "Webs of Intrigue" by ABC Video, for great footage on net casting and other spiders.

This photograph was taken at Hamersley Gorge in the Pilbara where there were many water spiders around the waters edge in December. It is possibly a Net Casting spider.

Net Casting Spiders have large eyes.

Go here to find out more about this spider

These spiders do not make webs but wait for their prey to come close enough to grab. During the day when an insect such as a bee or small butterfly is searching for the sweet nectar of the flower the spider holds onto the flower with its hind legs and seizes the insect with its front legs and pedipalps. Some of these spiders blend in so well with the colours of the flower that an insect would find it nearly impossible to tell that they are there.

These spiders will catch insects much bigger than themselves and will stay on the one flower until the flower withers. Crab spiders can run sideways as their legs have a different structure than other spiders and they can also run forwards. This is why its called a Crab spider.

Crab spiders aren't very hairy.

Flower spiders can change their colour over 2 days to match the flower.
The egg-sacs are hairy or woolly and are guarded by the female until they hatch.
They are harmless to humans.

See how the spider is nearly the same colour as the flower for camouflage.

To find out more about this spider go here http://www.austmus.gov.au/
factsheets/flower_spider.htm

This spider was found at Serpentine National Park off Jarradale Rd in October.

I don't know if this tiny spider is in this group of spiders or not. It was found on the dirt path at Bungendore Park on Albany Hwy near Perth in May.

This spider was seen on an orchid at Mt Vincent, Perth in November. It had just caught its lunch!

Believe it or Not

This is where you decide if this is true or not. Hunting spiders will chase you if you have a cut that is bleeding.

Text used;

"Australian Insects" by Phillip W Hadlington and Judith A Johnston.
"Australian Seasons Summer And Autumn" by Alan Fairley
Video "Webs of Intrigue" by ABC
"First Field Guide To Australian Insects and Spiders" by Steve Parish. Search and Learn
"Australian Spiders In Colour" by Ramon Mascord
Here are some spiders from Queensland
Ground spiders

- four pairs of legs	- no backbone they are invertebrates
- no antennae	- one pair of palps (feelers) or pedipalps (foot feelers) attached under the combined head and thorax (cephalothorax)
- either pincer-like jaws or dagger-like jaws	- they breathe either by tubes or sheet-like tissue called book lungs.