Spiders and Moths – Garden Guests Diary

I discovered this next insect trying to hide in a leaf and I thought at first that it was another moth…

but when I moved the leaf slightly to get a better look, I jumped back when I realised that it was a hairy spider!  Here she is…

A Garden Orb-weaver (Eriophora transmarina)

Really weird position – she looks like she is lying on her back and check out those spines along her legs

These spiders are about the size of a 50 cent coin and are found in trees, shrubs and eaves of houses.  They are most common in summer in Eastern Australia and are nocturnal so during the day they rest by pulling their legs over their heads.  They are shy of humans and not usually aggressive but will bite when aggravated which may cause mild, local pain for 30 minutes.

Jumping Spider (Salticidae)

This jumping spider was right next door to the garden orb-weaver and he was jumping from leaf to leaf when I saw him, weaving his web as he jumped. This spider is much smaller, about the size of a 20 cent coin and there are about 800 species of jumping spiders known from Australia.

Not a great photo as he kept moving all of the time but here you can see his markings more clearly.

So much activity going on “behind the scenes” in our backyard that we are not even aware of.