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Family Corinnidae - Sun Spiders
Some spiders in this family mimic ants. Their legs are usually long and slender. Most corinnids live in leaf litter or on dry bark of trees. They hunt on open ground and tree trunk.
- Spotted Ground Swift Spider
- Supunna picta, subfamily Castianierinae, leg to leg 30mm
- We sometimes found this spider on tree trunk with the Gum Tree Shield Bug nymph. Actually this spider look very similar to the bug nymph. The spider, as the bug nymph, has the black colour body and white markings. The spider's pair of front legs has the same colour as the nymph's antenna. Most interesting is the spiders walk with three pairs of legs only, and wave its front legs just like antenna. We suspect either the spider mimic the nymph because they are not eatable, or more likely, mimic the nymph to approach them for prey. Since the Gum Tree Shield Bug nymphs live together in group under the Gum tree bark. The spider hiding among those nymph is just a sheep-skin-covered wolf among the sheep.
- Ant-mimicking Spider
- ? Poecilipta sp., body length 8mm
- We sometimes saw this spider in Alexander Hill and Karawatha Forest. It was hunting on a small Acacia tree, where ants with similar shape and colour can also be found. When hunting, the spider walk like an ant. When disturbed, it ran much faster than ant.
- We are not exactly sure if it is in this family.
