Friday, February 12, 2010

St Andrews Cross Spiders

The rain is still bucketing down here in Sydney. For me (and many others) its a welcome change. All of my pots are soaked and I have been moving some of cacti and succulents undercover to stop them from rotting out. Ive noticed some new insect arrivals: St Andrews Cross Spidersspider 009 They are so called because of the silky cross at the centre of their web. This is called a stabilimentum. At first thought to stabilise the web, it is currently thought to either help capture prey or avoid predators.

EDIT: Today, 17th February, I was standing on the balcony, brushing my teeth and a wattle bird landed on a nearby branch and ate the above spider, right in front of me. C’est la vie!

st andrews cross spiders, homes 025This one is either a baby or hasn’t had time to spin the  cross yet. These spiders are common in Eastern Australia and are found from rainforest margins to open forest and heathland. And…. they aren’t poisonous!

4 comments:

BernieH said...

They're a beautiful creature ... I just watched one spin it's web the other day ... it's a fascinating creation.

Cat Davidson said...

How apt for me, a scottish lassie, just made her way across the gap to Gold Coast and nosying around for some aussie gardening tips, hope you dont get washed away in the downpour, Cat

robyn said...

If you are in to gardening, Cat, The Gold Coast is a great place to grow lots of fantastic tropical plants. Hope you enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

I'm a bit arachnophobic, but I still appreciate the beauty of these little beasties. As long as I don't walk straight into one amongst my roses!
Wonderful photos!