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For several weeks a Garden Orb Weaver has made its home in a shrub at our front door. Most nights it builds its large web in the corner between our veranda and the garage. One morning a large grasshopper flew into its web. The Orb Weaver rests well hidden during the day, so the grasshopper was ignored until after dark. In this picture the spider has come down to check out the grasshopper.
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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Garden Orb Weaver Spider feeding on grasshopper.
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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Another shot of Orb Weaver feeding on grasshopper.
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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Garden Orb Weaver after completion of moult. This spider was under a hanging basket on house veranda.
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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These are the big furry ones, with the huge webs you walk into at night. This large spider was photographed on web strung across garden path. The spider would build web each evening after sunset and pull it down each morning. During the day it rested under eaves of house. This one was about 30m in length.
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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Orb Weaver with dragon fly
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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SPIDER FACTS |
Description
Stout, reddish-brown or grey spiders with triangular abdomen. The Garden Orb Weavers build large, strong, vertical orb webs. The web is usually built in the evenings and taken down again at dawn. The spider rests head-down in the centre of the web during darkness, waiting for prey. During the day, the spider rests under nearby branch or in nearby foliage with its legs drawn under the body.
Other Names
Garden Spider
Size
2 - 3 cm (female) or 1.5 - 2 cm (male) in body length
Habitat
Forest, woodland, gardens
Food
Flying insects including flies, beetles, moths, bugs, cicadas. When the insect lands in the web, the spider quickly moves to it and bites it. It then wraps it in silk before feeding on it. Feeding can last more than an hour if the prey is large.
Breeding
The female Garden Orb Weaver lays her eggs in late summer to autumn. The eggs are encased in a silken egg sac attached to foliage.
Range
eastern and southern Australia
Notes
Orb weavers are reluctant to bite. Symptoms may include mild local pain, numbness and swelling.
Classification
| Class: | Arachnida | | Order: | Araneomorphae | | Family: | Araneidae | | Genus: | Eriophora | | Species: | transmarina | | Common Name: | Garden Orb Weaver Spider |
Relatives in same Genus
Garden Orb Weaver Spider (E. unknown species)
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