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Family Theridiidae, Comb-Footed Spiders
They are commonly called Comb-Footed Spiders. Usually they build tangled webs under stones, against fences or walls. The distinguishing feature of this family is the row of spines on the tip of the fourth legs, which are used to comb out wide swathes of silk to entangle their prey. Their eyes are in two rows of four.
The distinguishing feature of this family is the row of spines on the tip of the fourth legs, which are used to comb out wide swathes of silk to entangle their prey. Their eyes are in two rows of four.
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- Achaearanea sp., leg to leg 20mm
- This spider builds untidy tangled webs near the wall and amongst the trees. The web may include a curled leaf as a retreat. The body shape looks like a Red-back Spider. The body is mottled cream-brown and the legs are red-brown. In the 1st photo we can see two eggs sacs. For one eggs sac the young spiders have hatched. The 2nd photo shows the male (smaller) approaching the female. More information on this page.
- Red Back Spider
- Latrodectus hasseltti, leg to leg 30mm
- Body and legs are shiny black, with a distinct red stripe on the back and the red time-bottle mark (small photo) on the bottom of their abdomen. Red Back spiders build a tangled web on the wall, rubbish and old furniture in the garden. They like afternoon sunshine so they are found mostly on the western side of the garden. They have a very bad name in Australia because their bite is known to be fatal. Since the invention of the anti-venom twenty years ago, no one has been killed . However, they bring a lot of business to the pest control company. Most of my friends will call pest control company immediately once they find the Red Back in their garden. In the second photo notice that there is the male Red back Spider which is smaller in size. To see more information on Red Back Spiders, the symptoms of Red Back Spider bite and how to control Red Back Spiders, please click here.
- Whip Spider
- Ariamnes sp., body length 30mm
- This spiders are common in garden but not easily seen. The body is thin and long with comparatively short legs and very long abdomen. At night it hangs on one or two dry silk between plants. At day time it hind itself as small broken branch caught on spider silk.
- Spider on Wattle leaf
- ?sp. leg to leg 30mm
- This spider build tangled web on wattle leaf. We cannot identified this spider. We guessed it belonged to the Comb-Footed Spider family. The spider has large silver abdomen with brown-red patterns. On the top there are four black dots, mimic the head of larger spider species.
