This is something of a re-post, I hope you’ll forgive me. But the truth is that Net-casting spiders are some of my favs. And why wouldn’t they be! Just look at that tremendous net she’s created.
They generally prefer to hunt at night, so to see one doing her thing during the day was a bit of a treat!
The vegetation around the egg sac isn’t accidental, she deliberately placed the detritus there in an effort to camouflage her precious young. Clever girl, eh?
To give themselves the best chance of ensnaring their prey, these spiders will sometimes create a marker of whitish droppings to focus on, that serve as a kind of range indicator.
They will also fling their net at any flying insect that ventures close enough, and anything of a suitable size is quite literary up for grabs, including other spiders.
The spiders themselves have a general size of around 1.5-2.5 cm.
*An unused net is sometimes stored by hanging it on nearby leaves for the next night's hunting, or the spider may eat it.
If you’re lucky enough to find one in your garden, I would strongly encourage you to take some time out of your busy day to just observe them, and never fear - these guys aren’t considered dangerous to humans.
Although, one imagines, that people are probably dangerous towards them quite often :(
Alrighty then - well, I won’t be sending this via email, I fear I may be becoming bothersome and I don’t want to run the risk of creating clutter in peoples inboxes.
So, if you’ve happenstanced upon the post - yay you! Hello and welcome. Please take the time to like, share and subscribe. And feel free to leave a comment or criticism :)
Big thanks as always to my followers and subscribers - absolute legends, one and all!
Take Care - Bear X
References
*https://australian.museum/