| These identifications have been gleaned from images only, not examination of specimens, so we use the identifier "cf" to indicate "species looks like" |
| Stat' | Notes | Thumbnails: 847. 129 native species listed, with 115 from Ellura |
| Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Spiders, Scorpions, Mites & Ticks (Arachnida) | ||||||||
| Spiders Araneae | Mouse Spider :Mygalomorph Actinopodidae | Red-headed Mouse Spider Missulena occatoria | Na e m | Only the much smaller males have the red head/carpace & chelicerae while the females primarily black, occasionally with red chelicerae. Seen in April, May, June & July. The chelicerae are huge, compared to the body size, making them look quite fearful. We don't see them often but finally caught one yesterday, to measure it's vitals and then released. The male weighed 0.1gms, and only ~10mm long (head & body). The male palps have an obviously red papal bulb & long embolus. It has short spinnerets and hairy black legs. The carpace & cephalothorax are smooth/hairless, while the abdomen has short hairs & is blue; of all things. This genus has a very widely spread eye arrangment, unusual for a mygalomorph. 6 of the eyes are shaded by black, while 2 with none are difficult to see. They are an "old world" (or primative) spider partially because their fangs point down. This is considered to be a less efficient killing machine. Modern day spiders were designed with hi-tech sideways pointed fangs, not needing to lift the head to kill it's prey. Red headed mouse spiders don't use their venom very much (according to Qld Museum); thankfully as they are as toxic as it's cousin the Sydney Funnel Web. Funnel Web Spider anti-venom works as well. But it's best not to get bitten in the first place. ************************************************ Humans do get very emotional about spiders. With the Red-Back & Sydney Funnel Web given a special place in our culture (they are the most dangerous spiders in the world), but the Funnel web has only about 13 deaths recorded against it (ever). In fact, only 27 fatalities from all spiders in Australia (mainly children, sick & ederly). 138 shark fatalities. About 1 snake fatality a year. At least these animals were here first. Yet 10 people every year die in Australia from introduced European Honey Bees, and somehow people think of them in such a positive way? ************************************************ | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Mouse Spider :Mygalomorph Actinopodidae | Mouse Spider Missulena sp ES01 | Na e m | We thought this was a Red-headed Mouse Spider, but then found a paper & key that showed there are a number of similar species; colour is diagnostic. As such, the dark colour of the head means it can't be M. occatoria. This key is hard to decipher. We think the "pars" means "side of". This is the only photo which we can find to describe the "pars" terms. Our sighting matches Volker's image, but is wrong location, so more work to try and decipher. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Mouse Spider :Mygalomorph Actinopodidae | Brown Mouse Spider Missulena sp ES02 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you CesDaMess for confirming the id of this species for us There two unusual aspects of this specimen. 1. It's brown. But there are brown mouse spiders out there. They just don't seem to be noticed as much. 2. It's a female. Now typically these are only seen when someone has accidentally dug up their burrow. But we found this one just walking around in the daytime. Perhaps a bird dug up it's borrow? It is injured, with a big gash on it's head. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Brush-footed Spider :Mygalomorph Barychelidae | Goldback Idiommata sp ES01 | Na e m | A large spider that weighed in at 0.58 grams, 20mm long. You can see the hoof like brushed feet in the dorsal shot. Even their palps have brushed "feet". Unlike most other spiders, these have their eyes very close together. Mygalomorphs have 4 lungs, rather than 2 as in modern spiders. You can see them in the ventral shots as the light colours bulges on the abdomen. We have only found male Mygalomorphs as they go out looking for a mate. The females generally stay hidden in their burrow. We found this one male in July. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Brush-footed Spider :Mygalomorph Barychelidae | Silver-back Idiommata sp ES02 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Joshua Gan for confirming the id of this species for us ~25mm long, ~60mm legspan. Found 1 in May. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Spiny Trapdoor Spider :Mygalomorph Idiopidae | Armored Trapdoor Spider Idiosoma sp | Na e m | Thank you Joshua Gan for identifying this species for us A medium sized spider that weighed in at 0.37 grams, 15mm long. We are confident it's mature as you can see the pedipalp bulb, etc. This species has an unusual double tibial spur near it's kneeds on it's front legs. Unlike most other spiders, but typical amoung Mygalomorphs, these have their eyes very close together. We found this one male in July. We thought this was Adelaide's Trapdoor Spider (Blakistonia aurea). Joshua said "Eye arrangement and presence of sigillae on abdomen suggest Idiosoma instead of Blakistonia". The sigillae are the little round pale spots on top of the abdomen. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wishbone Spider :Mygalomorph Nemesiidae | Black Wishbone Spider Aname sp ES01 | Na e m |
Thank you Mark Newton & Cael Gallery for identifying this species for us We thought both our Aname were Proshermacha sp, but Cael said "Proshermacha are very, very bright metallic; and i've never found one in such a dry area." | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wishbone Spider :Mygalomorph Nemesiidae | Golden Wishbone Spider Aname sp ES02 | Na e m a | Thank you Cael Gallery for identifying this species for us | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Twig Spider Acroaspis olorina iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Michael Gasteracantha for identifying this species for us There are 4 Orb genera with these twig appendages 1. Dolophones: The twig is at the front of the abdomen, and a "proper" sized abdomen - so not that 2. Heurodes: there is confusion about synonymy with Acroaspis. Until Atlas changes we will accept there are still 2 genera. It's too small, doesn't have the turret head and doesn't have the "bulge" underneath. So not that 3. Poltys: Well the twig is scruffy, but the legs are similar. We still don't have the bulge underneath. The back is ribbed. It says their eyes are widely spread. Ok, clearly not that one 4. Finally here we see 2 groups of 3 eyes on each side of the head that nearly touch, then one eye on each side below that group. One thing not stated anywhere was it can lay it's abdomen down to look like a long spider, rather than an upright twig. The top of the abdomen is straight, but under is a lovely smooth curve to the "bulge" at the bottom. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Speckled Orbweaver Araneus circulissparsus iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Slender Green Orb Spider Araneus talipedatus iNaturalist | Na a | Thank you Anthony Paul & Suzanne and Jim for confirming the id of this species for us On first spotting this pretty lady, we thought it was a Lynx spider; due to the spikey legs. Turned out to be an orb spider. It's well camouflaged in green ivy leaves; but has a very small web. In females, the epigyne has a long scape (a tongue-like appendage), or "epigeal scape". | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Long-tailed Orb-weaving Spider Argiope protensa iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Matthew Connors, David Muirhead & Natasha (Ethmostigmus) for confirming the id of this species for us Probably the most varied invert we come across; variations in colour pattern & body shape - occuring in one individual at times. Spiders can also "shrivel up" when hungry or just laid eggs, in this case giving them a blunt tailed apprearance rather than the typical pointy tail we see in photo's. We have tried to highlight how each individual can change it's stripes and tail length. Please note specimen ids (S1, S2, etc) to compare the differences that occur within one individual. We suspect the stripe change is to do with breathing; perhaps blowing it'self up in some defensive mechanism? The males have quite different palps. It's quite possible they are different species as the palps are diagnostic in male spiders. It may also be a juvenile vs mature specimen variation. Or some damage caused due to breeding? Recently it was recognised that A. protensa & A. extensa are actually the same species. With the "tail" being able to be retracted, size is a difficult thing to compare. Should probably do the same as reptiles & measure to the vent; or spinnerets in this case. They range in size from ~3mm for the Juvi, ~4-6mm for the males, ~6-18mm for other females. 3 to 18mm is an extreme size variation for spiders, again suggesting different species or unusual for spiders in that juveniles look identical to adults; which goes against the notion these vary so much We've had a female living in our shade house, whose grown dramatically over the last 2 weeks; she's now the biggest we've measured at ~18mm long (S17). We've now seen with her that the highly reflective/silver colour are silver hairs. Notice her large "epigeal scape". On the same day we caught a male (S16) which shows they are quite crab-spider like. We have photographed 16 (3 male) in Jan, Feb, Apr, May, Jul, Aug, Oct, Nov & Dec. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Banded Orb Spider Argiope trifasciata iNaturalist | Na r | Thank you Matthew Connors & Anthony Paul for confirming the id of this species for us She was a large lady, ~13mm, almost as big as an Australian Orb. With many spiders the ventral patterns are more diagnostic than the dorsal pattern. Like red backs can have very variable colours on top, but always a red hour-glass under. Here the ventral patterns are very typical of this species, but the dorsal shot is more washed out than any we can find. They usually have dark bands across the abdomen, but here, she's very silvery all over. She built her web in Porcupine Grass (Triodia scariosa) and dropped down amoungst the needles when we approached. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Bush Orb-weaver Backobourkia sp ES01 | Na e m a |
These spiders have some large projections on their back (3 main ones) that are nearly impossible to see unless viewed in profile. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Flat-backed Orb-weaver Backobourkia sp ES02 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Caitlin Henderson for identifying and Suzanne and Jim for confirming the id of this species for us ~13mm long. We thought it was Eriophora biapicata. Caitlin said "The reduced humps are a puzzle." Suzanne & Jim said "It's easy to see the way the scape kinks up and back down right at the end, something you see in Backobourkia." | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Grey Orb-weaver Backobourkia sp ES03 iNaturalist | Na e m | ~11mm long Juvenile Female photographed in Jan | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Twig Wrap-around Spider Dolophones cf turrigera iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Anthony Paul & Suzanne and Jim for confirming the id of this species for us Volker Framenau said: "These may not be Dolophones turrigera, the genus is completely unresolved and the turret like outgrowths on the abdomen are highly variable. Only examination of the genitalia will get you to a species identification." When photographing wrap arounds we've found they relax if you put a stick in the box with them. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Black-striped Wrap-around Spider Dolophones sp ES01 | Na e m | Of those we've measured, they are ~5mm long but ~8mm wide. The eye's raised on a platform is not necessarily a diagnostic feature as once thought, nor is it gender specific. The genetalia is, but these images (photo equipement) are not able to magnify the genetalia to a sufficient size to inspect them. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Greenish Wrap-around Spider Dolophones sp ES02 | Na e m | We separated this one out from the others because of the spines/setae around it's palps are quite different to any of the others. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Brown-striped Wrap-around Spider Dolophones sp ES07 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Suzanne and Jim for confirming the id of this species for us A small spider at ~3.5mm long. It decided to "hide" by wrapping around the edge of the pot we caught it in This one seemed to have very large posterior median eyes (middle, top row) | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Garden Orb-weaver Eriophora biapicata iNaturalist | Na e m a |
Thank you Suzanne and Jim & Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us The black female (S1) was ~15mm, the black male (S2) ~13mm and the pale male (S6) ~11mm long (body & head) The male specimen shown here (black one) was in poor shape, malnourished and had lost appendages; missing front leg and one palp. Also it's not possible to see the fangs, so may have also lost them causing the malnutrition. Notice the tibial spur on the 2nd leg of the male. This spur is more forward, compared with the Spurred Orb Weaver (Novakiella trituberculosa); only on the male as they are used when mating to stop the female from invenemating him. This spur is more noticable on this specimen as the front leg isn't blocking the view. Clearly you can see how highly variable these are. Both males & females have very spiny legs, which isn't normally very obvious, but with black hairs and golden spines they stand out quite clearly. These are now Hortophora biapicata, but it takes a while for Atlas to catch up with new binomial names. We have photographed 7 specimens in Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov & Dec. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Knobbly Orb-weaver Eriophora cf pustulosa | Na e m a | Has 2 projections at the front ,and 4 towards the tail, of the abdomen. It's a small spider, so very difficult to see. We suspect this specimen is immature due to it's small size. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Small Orb Spider Gea theridioides iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Matthew Connors & Ben Kurek for confirming the id of this species for us Adult Female ~6mm long, Juv ~2.5mm long. Strong yellow banded on abdomen. The rear of the abdomen also shows a dark shield. The legs are very striped. Photographed 2 in Jan. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Australian Golden Orb-web Spider Nephila edulis iNaturalist | Na e m a r |
Thank you Natasha Taylor for confirming the id of this species for us This is the usually large, grey spider found hanging from road signs on country roads. One of the most photographed spiders in Australia. The male is red and much smaller. It is only when you see them together that his colours make any sense; ie they match her ventral colours. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Spurred Orb Weaver Novakiella trituberculosa iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Suzanne and Jim & Rog Standen for confirming the id of this species for us This is a very strange spider, a bit of a Heinz 57 variety. It has long thin legs like a Prowling spider, spurs on it's tibia like a Trapdoor, the back of a Backobourkia (triangular with 3 horns) and eyes like a Jumper. Yet small, only ~5mm long. This is a male; the female wouldn't have the spurs. The only thing that was truly unique about it was the dark brown triangular patch on it's back. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Leaf curling Spider Phonognatha graeffei | Na e m a | As the name suggests they curl up a leaf and dangle it in the middle of their web. Then sit with their legs on the web, waiting for vibrations from prey. They then dart out, snare it and bring it back to the leaf. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Bush Orb Weaver Plebs eburnus iNaturalist | Na f a |
Thank you Anthony Paul for confirming the id of this species for us The female shown here was ~5mm. A male we've also found was ~3mm. Similar to Leaf Curling Spider We found one female & one male in Dec & Jan. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Orb-weaver Spider Araneidae | Fat Orb Weaver Zealaranea cf crassa | Na e m | A very strange medium sized spider. 2 horned, or 2 spined, and pregnant. Reddish brown, with it's legs well tucked up. Looks like a gall. Has a white / yellow / pale stripe all around. It's also faintly two tone with the stripe making the letter "U", or "V", on it's back; separating the 2 tones. It's perched on a Hakea Wattle (Acacia hakeoides). | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Swift Spider Corinnidae | White-spotted Swift Spider Nyssus albopunctatus iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Reiner Richter & Mark Newton for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Swift Spider Corinnidae | Wasp-mimicking Swift Spider Nyssus coloripes iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us An INCREDIBLY fast species. We haven't come across a faster invertebrate. They can be out of the insect box, over your hand, back to the box, twice around it and onto the table before your reactions have pulled your hand away! | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Swift Spider Corinnidae | Black Swift Spider Nyssus sp ES01 | Na m |
These have recently been renamed. There is quite a variety of them with varying spots (white & yellow) and leg markings (black, orange & white). | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Swift Spider Corinnidae | Swift Spider Nyssus sp ES02 | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Swift Spider Corinnidae | Green-head Ant Mimic Poecilipta sp iNaturalist | Na e m | ~4.5mm long Anthony Paul kindly highlighted to us there's another VERY similar genus called Iridonyssus. Generally it's "fatter" with shorter legs. One of the Poecilipta has a constricted abdomen, but others don't. This isn't a diagnostic feature for the whole genus. Given this is longer & more pointed/thinner we've decided on this genus. This specimen also looks very similar to the photo of P. smaragdinea, page 368, of "A Guide to the Spiders of Australia" | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Swift Spider Corinnidae | Marbled Swift Spider Ticopa sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Dr Volker Framenau for identifying and Dr Robert Raven for confirming the id of this species for us A medium sized spider with body & head length of ~7-10mm. Males & Females are similar size. While it looks like T. hudsoni, Robert said "It should be Ticopa australis" in that region. "The patterns are not absolute, especially with the few specimens we have of Ticopa". The male palps need to be examined under a microscope to make a definitive id. Robert described the species in 2015, which highlights how impossible it is for ameteurs to be certain of their species id. We originally thought we had a Prowling, Water or perhaps even Orb spider here. Very long legs, all about equal length and spacing. Found on our annex wall. It has a lot of red/brown "skin" showing, with a lot of black blotches & spots. Black spikes (like a Lynx spider), with very short white/grey hair sparsely scattered on the body and legs. The abdomen is completely covered (above, sides & below) in short hair; mainly white/grey except for the black hair in a triangular edged stripe down the back and dappled underneath. The legs do have very fine hair on them, but it's almost invisible. It has 4 small spinnerets near the rear tip, not visible from above Most importantly the eye arrangement: 2 rows of 4 (but the rows are curved, not straight). The 6 largest (most obvious) eyes make a hexagon shape. We have found 2 males and 5 females, in Dec, Jan, Feb & May. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Net Casting Spider Deinopidae | Net-casting Spider Deinopis subrufa iNaturalist | Na e m a |
Thank you Suzanne and Jim & Peter Crowcroft for confirming the id of this species for us Highly variable species, generally grey to brown and up to 25mm body & head length. We have only found smaller one ranging in size from 8mm to 19mm. They have 2 very large eyes pointing forward, similar to jumping spider, on the 2nd row. The other 6 smaller eyes are arranged as: 1 row of 2 eyes above, 1 row of 2 eyes below the larger ones, and the final 2 pointing down to the side on raised mounts. Long strong legs. Often specimens have lumps on the side and dark triangular stripes down their backs. It's possible all 6 Australian Deinopis species are actually one species. The males have very large palps for their body size We found 4 specimens in Feb & April, with 1 male. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Intertidal Spider Desidae | House Spider Badumna sp | Na e m a | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Intertidal Spider Desidae | Foliage Webbing Spider Phryganoporus cf candidus | Na e m r | A social/communal spider. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Sac Spider Eutichuridae | Striped Sac Spider Cheiracanthium sp ES01 | Na a |
They change colour to some degree based on their last meal. A medium sized spider with a pale green abdomen containing a brown strip at the front. Very large large chelicera (the structure holding the fangs) for it's size. She tended to sit with 2 legs back and 6 legs forward. We don't know which male (ES01 or ES02) the females goes with. In fact, the female may even be a 3rd species. Also note that ES01 was only found in the Adelaide Hills, and ES02 only at Ellura. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Sac Spider Eutichuridae | Long-legged Sac Spider Cheiracanthium sp ES02 | Na e m |
Note the different palps on this one, making it different to ES01. ~5mm long male. The reason for so many ventral shots here is to show the way the fangs can hinge and move around; used like fingers to some degree. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Sac Spider Eutichuridae | Yellow Long-legged Sac Spider Cheiracanthium sp ES03 iNaturalist | Na e m |
~8mm long body. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Sac Spider Eutichuridae | Sac Spider Eutichuridae sp | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Ground Spider Gnaphosoidea: Gnaphosidae | Ground Spider Gnaphosidae sp ES01 | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Ground Spider Gnaphosoidea: Gnaphosidae | Wishbone Ground Spider Gnaphosidae sp ES04 | Na e m | ~9.5mm long It isn't obvious in these photo's, but this looks like a small wishbone spider to the naked eye. The hair on the leg joints near the body stand out in natural light, like the smooth joints on wishbone spiders. Separating out Gnaphosidae spiders photographically is nearly impossible; even for arachnologists. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Ground Spider Gnaphosoidea: Gnaphosidae | Flat Ground Spider Hemicloea sp | Na e m a | Similar Species: Flat Spider (Morebilus cf sp) : Red Flat Spider (Platorish gelorup) These are similar to Trachycosmidae (were in Trochanteriidae), except these can't walk up glass. We find they also have much larger spinnerets. Unfortunately Atlas hasn't caught up yet, so we have to wait for them to move it as well. We photographed 8 (2 Males) of these on Ellura & in the Adelaide Hills throughout the year. Their size varies from ~5.5mm up to 9mm. Most likely we have found a number of different species but it's difficult to separate them out. Only the 1st we've photographed is shown here. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Flat Spider Gnaphosoidea: Trachycosmidae | Flat Spider Morebilus cf sp | Na e m | Similar Species: Flat Ground Spider (Hemicloea sp) Thank you Caitlin Henderson for helping with the id of this species for us One diagnostic of these is that they can walk up glass. We didn't test this here as we didn't know way back when these photo's were taken. But it was happy climbing over a plastic water bottle, which is almost the same. Notice the spinnerets are tiny compared to our Hemicloea We thought this was Morebilus cf fumosus but Caitlin lifted our id to genus level saying "it could easily be Morebilus (without having examined it)". Just to highlight to people the "cf" in the name means "looks like", as such it could well be another species or genus. We've photographed 1 male in Oct. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Flat Spider Gnaphosoidea: Trachycosmidae | Red Flat Spider Platorish gelorup iNaturalist | Na e m | Similar Species: Flat Ground Spider (Hemicloea sp) Thank you Caitlin Henderson for identifying this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: One diagnostic of these is that they can walk up glass. We've tested this with these. The males were ~6mm long, while the female ~7.5mm long. Notice the spinnerets are tiny compared to Hemicloea. We thought this was Morebilus cf fumosus. Caitlin said "I'm fairly confident that what you have is Platorish gelorup ... the particularly wide carapace compared to length and the rounded sternum are diagnostic. The image of the palp was clear enough to compare structures to Platnick's 2002 revision which match perfectly with P. gelorup, which is also a geographic match. Without examining the specimen under a microscope of course, there is margin for error." We've photographed 3 specimens, 1 female, in Apr & May. To be clear, Caitlin only id'ed the male. We have assumed the female is the same species based on appearance & location. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Two Tailed Spider Hersiliidae | Two-tailed Spider Tamopsis cf fickerti | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Two Tailed Spider Hersiliidae | Flat-headed Two-tailed Spider Tamopsis cf platycephala iNaturalist | Na e m | This species is a northern species only known from NT, Qld & NSW, so suspect it's not the same species, but certainly looks it and is the right size, so probably closely related. One male found in June, ~6mm long excluding appendages (ie legs, spinerets & palps). As can be seen, a very different abdomen shape to our other Two-tailed Spiders. Also quite large, with the male spiders usually considerably smaller than females. Females are reported to be ~10mm | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Two Tailed Spider Hersiliidae | Two-tailed Spider Tamopsis sp ES01 | Na e m | The 6 specimens we have found range from just over 4mm to 6mm. Originally suspecting they were different species, due to the strength of patterns, the patterns still match. We suspect they are now various stages of growth from the smallest being younger, to the largest being older. Interestingly all are female, no males found yet. We have found them in May, June, July & December. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | White-tailed Spider Lamponidae | White-tailed Spider Lampona cf cylindrata | Na e m a c | This family can be nearly impossible to differentiate, but being in South Australia this species is the most common. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | Tiger Wolf Spider Hoggicosa castanea iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Cael Gallery for identifying this species for us S1, Male, was very large, ~20mm body, ~60-70mm legspan. Because of the "Union Jack" like pattern, we previously thought it was a Tasmanicosa sp. After Cael had I'd S3, we went looking for others we had photographed, finding S1 & S2. Cael agreed, but with S2 he said "A little pale but i think so". We asked Cael why the examples on the internet looked so different and he said "Hoggicosa are very sexually dimorphic so it's hard to give you any tips that apply to males and females. With H. castanea males have like a really muted version of the female's patterns and they lack the orange colour too." When we comment on the fact we had only seen males, Cael said "You probably haven't seen any female H. castanea because they live in lidded burrows". Later, Cael gave another diagnostic tip "Hoggicosa don't have a pale median streak on the carapace or a white margin". Photographed 3 Males in Jan & Feb. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | Two-toned Wolf Spider Hoggicosa forresti iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Cael Gallery for identifying this species for us A large male spider, 17mm body length, 55mm leg span. After Cael id'ed our Tiger Wolf Spider (Hoggicosa castanea) we went looking for others we had photographed. We thought this was one, but Cael recognised the difference and said "The big difference here is the median streak on the abdomen and the black on the femur." Photographed 1 male in Apr. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | Wolf Spider Lycosidae sp ES01 | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | Wolf Spider Lycosidae sp ES03 | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | Wolf Spider Lycosidae sp ES04 | Na m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | Banded Wolf Spider Lycosidae sp ES06 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ethan Yeoman & Cael Gallery for confirming and Ben Kurek for helping with the id of this species for us ~12mm long. Orange chelicera. 4 hidden spinnerets. Cael Gallery said "Venator seems like a decent match for these ones." | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | White-rimmed Wolf Spider Lycosidae sp ES07 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Cael Gallery for confirming the id of this species for us Cael said "Something similar to Hogna" | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | Undescribed Wolf Spider Lycosidae sp ES08 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ben Kurek & Cael Gallery for confirming the id of this species for us Cael said "Pretty sure they're undescribed. I've found them everywhere, even up to the roxby downs area" | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | Wolf Spider Tasmanicosa cf sp | Na e m r | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | Union Jack Wolf Spider Tasmanicosa harmsi iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ben Kurek & Dr Paul Whitington for confirming the id of this species for us Female ~13mm to ~22mm long. Found a male which was ~18mm body length. This is a large size variation for a species. Wolf spiders have very variable body patterns, so are difficult to separate. Here Ben said "T. harmsi should have diagnostic dense white setae between the pedicel and the epigastric furrow which I am having trouble seeing but it also has the black on the spinnerets which is also diagnostic." He later confirmed the id by saying "Comparing the venter of yours with the preserved specimens in Framenau, V. W. & Baehr, B. C. (2016). Revision of the Australian Union-Jack wolf spiders, genus Tasmanicosa, it's a good match." and that "T. harmsi has a band of white setae between the pedicel and the epigastric furrow, an area of the venter that is black in T. phyllis" (a very similar species). It possible the off white setae is just camera/lighting artefacts. Ben agreed to our S1 specimen id. We've extrapolated to the other specimens that Ben hasn't seen. Paul agreed and said "Your photo of the venter is the same as Fig.12C in Framenau and Baehr, showing that diagnostic "dense white setae ventrally between the epigastric furrow and the pedicel in both males and females". - very handy! T. hughjackmani, the other Tasmanicosa species in your location is all black on the venter." We think we have recognised 7 specimens (6 females, 1 male) in Jan (male), Mar, Sep, Oct & Nov (juvi). | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Wolf Spider Lycosoidea: Lycosidae | Wolf Spider Venator cf sp | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Prowling Spider Lycosoidea: Miturgidae | Wandering Spider Argoctenus sp ES02 | Na e m | Thank you Dr Robert Raven for confirming the id of this species for us The first specimen looks like A. igneus, but can't be confirmed without genital inspection. The eyes look superficially similar to wolf spider. But the top, rear eyes are not as far back, and the front top eyes are closer together (wolf spider top eyes make a square). We've only seen the males so far and they are ~5mm body & head length. A 3rd specimen we sighted last week was 7mm body & head length. They have very long legs, somewhat like a Ticopa sp. When you look close enough, from the right angle you can see they have tufts of hair over they eyes, like eyebrows. Eye arrangement is 4 rows of 2. The pair of eyes on the 2nd bottom row are very small (very difficult to see) and outside of the bottom pair. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Prowling Spider Lycosoidea: Miturgidae | Striped Swamp Spider Miturga cf gilva iNaturalist | Na e m r | Thank you Anthony Paul & Ethan Yeoman for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Prowling Spider Lycosoidea: Miturgidae | Prowling Spider Miturga cf lineata | Na a | Thank you Mark Newton for identifying this species for us This one has very large spinnerets compared to the others, and strong ventral striping (ie under the abdomen) | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Prowling Spider Lycosoidea: Miturgidae | Mottled-leg Prowling Spider Odo sp ES01 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Cael Gallery for confirming the id of this species for us Males ~9mm long. We measured one of the male legs that it had lain out flat to be 17mm long. These were moved to the Xenoctenidae family in 2017, but Atlas still has them listed under Miturgidae. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Red and Black Spider Nicodamidae | Red & Black Spider Nicodamidae sp | Na e m |
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| Spiders Araneae | Red and Black Spider Nicodamidae | Red & Black Spider Nicodamus cf peregrinus | Na e m |
Thank you Mark Newton for identifying this species for us Very unusual palps on the male of this spider. They are all unique, but this one has some external projections on them. We were also lucky enough to catch the spiral shape inside the cup as well. While a red & black spider, you can see the abdomen has a strong navy blue sheen that is visible in sunshine to the naked eye. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Lynx Spider Oxyopidae | Charming Lynx Spider Oxyopes amoenus iNaturalist | Na e m |
One female, ~7.5mm long, photographed in a Jan. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Lynx Spider Oxyopidae | Variable Lynx Spider Oxyopes cf variabilis | Na e m | This one was jumping around like crazy | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Lynx Spider Oxyopidae | Lynx Spider Oxyopidae sp ES01 | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Lynx Spider Oxyopidae | Lynx Spider Oxyopidae sp ES02 | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Daddy Long Legs Pholcidae | Long-bodied Daddy Long-legs Pholcus cf phalangioides | If e m |
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| Spiders Araneae | Daddy Long Legs Pholcidae | Daddy Long-legs Smeringopus cf natalensis | If e m |
Thank you Mark Newton for identifying this species for us ~5-7mm. Very difficult to be certain of species, with out proper examination (as with many of the spiders here). This genus is unusual for a spider in that the male & female are the same size. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Adelaide's Fly Mimic Abracadabrella lewiston iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ethan Yeoman for confirming the id of this species for us ~3.5mm long, found desiccated. A female we think. This id is based on location, the only species in the genus known to be found in SA. However, it looks more like A. birdsvillei. More work is needed to determine the true range of the different species of Abracadabrella. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Jovial Jumping Spider Apricia jovialis iNaturalist | Na e m a |
Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli & Karen Weaving for confirming the id of this species for us Females are from ~5mm to ~7mm long. It seems the typical orange band on the can be almost non-existant, or very strong. Photographed 6 adults in Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep & Dec. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Grey Striped Bark Jumper Clynotis severus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Nicholas John Fisher for confirming the id of this species for us The cutest of all spiders, the jumpers (Salticidae) do have 8 eyes (not 6), though difficult to see. Obviously the 2 headlights at the front & 2 side parkers. Going on top of the head, theres a nearly invisible pair, and finally the pair a the back. (2-2-4). Our Bronze Aussie Jumper (Helpis cf minitabunda) probably shows all 8 the best. Nicholas said "Whereas Clynotis severus is almost exclusively a trunk dweller" | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Bronze Aussie Jumper Helpis cf minitabunda | Na e m a | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Under-bark Jumping Spider Holoplatys sp | Na e m | Thank you Mark Newton for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | White-banded Jumping Spider Hypoblemum griseum iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Gelkiu for confirming the id of this species for us Females are ~7-8mm. The one male we measured was ~6.5 These are very variable. It seems the skull pattern on the abdomen is a rarity, rather than the norm. Photographed 9 in May, Aug, Sep, Nov & Dec. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Jumping Spider Jotus cf auripes | Na a | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Black & White Brushed Jumper Jotus karllagerfeldi iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Joseph Schubert for identifying and Suzanne and Jim, David Muirhead & Belinda Copland for confirming the id of this species for us ~6mm long. These are known for their green eyes & long, black hairy front 4 legs. Notice on the outside of the black hairy legs, there are long white hairs mixed in. This is visible in the profile shots. They are a dark spider (with black base colour) with pale hairs. With S2 we bumped up the lighting to highlight features, but this tends to distort colour somewhat. 3 male specimens found in Apr & May | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Unusual Peacock Spider Maratus anomalus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Suzanne and Jim for confirming the id of this species for us Our 1st Peacock spider Didn't even see the blue until we had a camera on it. This is an important record as they have only been known from the Eastern States, so a range extension. ~3.5mm long Black anterior stripe on 3rd row legs, which are covered in white hair lower down. Blue upper abdomen, with white anterior horizontal strip AND red/orange horizontal posterior stripe. Black cephalothorax, with white rear stripes, red/orange anterior edge stripes around the eyes, and white & red/orange dappled hair cut. Long spinnerets | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Ant-mimicking Jumping Spider Myrmarachne cf luctuosa | Na e m a | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Masked Jumping Spider Opisthoncus nigrofemoratus | Na a | Of this species Suzie & Jim said "The holotype only included a male and Koch's original description (translated) "Attus nigrofemoratus ... The legs are hairy white, the hips brownish-yellow, only the foremost darker, the thighs black-brown..." The female was not described but derived later from association. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Black & White Jumping Spider Paraplatoides sp iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Ethan Yeoman for identifying and John Douglas for helping with the id of this species for us ~6mm long Notice the 4 spines under each of the front legs, plus a couple on top of each front thigh. Ethan said "Sandalodes is quite large and robust, whereas Paraplatoides is flattened (when viewed in lateral aspect)." This one clearly is quite flat. Photographed 3 males in Dec & Jan. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Variable Saitis Saitis mutans iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Shannon Deale for identifying and Suzanne and Jim & Ben Kurek for helping with the id of this species for us One of the diagnostics of this genus is that the 3rd legs are longer than the rest. This lady certainly has that trait. She was a strong jumper and the 3rd legs were always tucked in (when sitting), like a spring ready to pounce When tucked in the 3rd legs were higher than the rest and you can measure on the screen on the last photo to show the rest of the leg is also longer than the rear. Suzanne and Jim said "Yes its very similar to one of the female variation of S mutans shown in Jurgens early paper. S mutans is still recognized as a valid Oz species in WSC but several later papers have shown that both S saitis and S virgatus are probably not Saitis. In particular the 2021 paper Phylogenomics of peacock spiders and their kin (Salticidae: Maratus) state that the genetics of these two species show that they are not even in the same genus, and it confirmed an earlier paper that casts doubt on either of them being the same genus as Saitis barbipes. So yes I think this female is probably similar to what is currently called Saitis mutan, and that taxon is probably suspect, but until we get a paper retaxoning them you have the choice to either id as S mutans or more generically (probably not as Saitis)" | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Red-faced Jumping Spider Saitis sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Suzanne and Jim for confirming the id of this species for us This is an undescribed species. ~4mm long Red face Yellow/orange hairy palps Waved 3rd leg (couldn't get a photo of it) Metallic Blue scales on 3rd legs White hair on the inside metatarsusi of the 3rd legs A strange red structure behind it's head Large rear eyes 3 vertical white stripes at the back of the head, and around the lower rim of the cephalothorax. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Jumping Spider Salticidae | Flat Striped Jumping Spider Zebraplatys sp iNaturalist | RA e m | Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us Male, ~5mm long. Most of the white are tiny short bristly hairs. Note how flat it is, thick front legs and indented abdomen. They front large eyes reflect green & have white "eyelashes". While this isn't listed on the Murraylands Survey, we wanted to highlight how rare it is with very few specimens found. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Huntsman Sparassidae | Social Huntsman Spider Delena cancerides iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Ben Kurek for confirming the id of this species for us Adult female ~18mm long. We found her inside our rain guage, gave us quite a shock. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Huntsman Sparassidae | Undescribed Huntsman Spider Isopeda sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Newton & Cael Gallery for identifying and Ben Kurek & Janet Whitington for helping with the id of this species for us Came to a night light. Cael said "It's too grey to be I.leai (Especially with the speckled pattern on the abdomen and carapace) and the spots on the abdomen are the wrong shape for Isopedella. The adults of this species are huge!" | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Huntsman Sparassidae | Southern Grey Huntsman Isopedella cf cerussata | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Huntsman Sparassidae | Saunders' Huntsman Isopedella saundersi iNaturalist | Na e m r |
Thank you Matthew Connors for identifying and Ben Kurek & Natasha (Ethmostigmus) for confirming the id of this species for us These have a huge size variation. We've measured males between 13 to 22mm long. Remember males only get their palps when they are mature. Females (that we recognise are this species) also range from 11 to 29mm. It's possible some of the immature "females" are males. Usually males palps bulge more when younger, but the younger they are the more difficult it is to recognise gender and species. Because of the 1. Eye brow 2. Spotted under legs 3. Badge is too strong we thought these were a Badge Huntsmen (Neosparassus genus). Interestingly, the Sternum is hairy! Quite unusual. The sternum is also black. We've not seen any images of Badge Huntsmen with black sternum. But the long thin legs always concerned us. The male here soon woke up and tried to jump on us These have hairy pads on their feet and can easily walk up glass. The females get quite colourful with age. We have photographed 17 specimens in Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov & Dec (or not in May as yet). | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Huntsman Sparassidae | Beautiful Badge Huntsman Neosparassus calligaster iNaturalist | Na e m r |
Thank you Ben Kurek for confirming the id of this species for us The adult male (S9) we measured at ~17mm long, while the Juv Female (S2) was ~14mm long. A very fitting common name! S9 was the most striking Huntsman we've come across. The ventral orange patch was unusually pale/non-existant though. We've photographed 9 in Jan, Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct & Nov. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Huntsman Sparassidae | Badge Huntsman Neosparassus cf diana | Na a | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Long-jawed Spider Tetragnathidae | Long-jawed Spider Tetragnatha sp | Na a | ~9mm long (excluding the chelicerae "jaws" which are an additional 3mm). One male found in April (under the lip inside a pool). | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Comb-footed Spider Theridiidae | Square-ended Cobweb Spider Episinus sp iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Ethan Yeoman for confirming the id of this species for us ~3.5mm long. Thank you to Ethan for highlighting the synonymy. Atlas is often behind with picking up changes in Taxon. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Comb-footed Spider Theridiidae | Ant-eating Spider Euryopis sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ben Kurek for identifying this species for us ~2.5mm long | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Comb-footed Spider Theridiidae | Redback Latrodectus hasseltii iNaturalist | Ir e m a |
Thank you Anthony Paul for confirming the id of this species for us A poisonous spider that can be lethal, but very, very rarely. Poisoning usually occurs due to picking up material off the ground without gloves. They love corrugated iron. They are generally black with a dark red diamond shaped stripe on their abdomen which extends from the top all the way round underneath. The stripe goes bright red when threatened. Diagnostically only the red hour glass underneath is relevant. As such, they can be missing the red stripe on top, are often brown not black, and also often have white stripes. These originated in the North-western Deserts of South Australia. They have become cosmopolitan (ie travel with humans) to other locations outside their native range. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Comb-footed Spider Theridiidae | Cupboard Spider Steatoda cf grossa | If a |
These will make you sick for a few days if bitten. It's related to the redback, so it's quite understandable. It's possibly a different species (as with the case with all our inverts), but S. grossa originated in Canada. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Comb-footed Spider Theridiidae | Theridiid Spider Theridiidae sp | Na e m a | Either Achaearanea or Theridion species, but their appearance over lap and this group of spiders has many undescribed species. So this is the best we can get to. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Blood-spattered Crab Spider Australomisidia cruentata | Na a |
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| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Cambridge's Crab Spider Isala cf cambridgei iNaturalist | Na e m |
The male we found is ~7mm, a bit small It's abdomen is pock-marked a bit like a golf ball. The setae/scales covering the body & legs are quite amazing! The eyes seem to be on a smaller pedestal compared to S. similis. Found 1 male in March. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Striped Bark Crab Spider Isala longimana iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Dr Miguel Machado for identifying and Dr Ron Atkinson for confirming the id of this species for us The Female was slightly larger than the males at a little over 4mm, with the males between ~3mm to ~4mm. This is very small for this species, females are over 9mm. We had long discussions with Ron about these, which was very appreciated. If the id is correct it makes these a range extension for this species into SA. The habitat is also semi-arid here, rather than the damper coastal regions of the Eastern States & Tasmania where they've been recorded before. Perhaps this impacts their size? Miguel said "This one appears to be similar to Stephanopis longimana". Miguel & his team are also working on some major changes to the very confusing Sidymella & Stephanopis groups which will hopefully clarify their separation; finally! Find-a-spider Guide We have found 5 specimens; 4 males in Jun & Jul with the female in Feb. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Similar Bark Crab Spider Isala similis iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Suzanne and Jim for confirming the id of this species for us ~7mm body length of the female we found. This is smaller than the 9-10mm she should be. However her abdomen does seem shrivelled; indicating she's just laid eggs &/or is hungry. The name indicates it's similar to Stephanopis cambridgei. Superficially this doesn't apprear so as S. cambridgei is covered in scaly hairs that hide it's underlying exoskeleton markings. Note the furrows on the outside of all her legs; top to bottom. As other Stephanopis seem to have. This species stands out for having smooth front legs. Suzie & Jim said "One of the diagnostics of similis is that pair of black bars running medial in the carapace. Notice how they merge about halfway down. This is how it can be separated from cambridgei. The name similis was given to it due to its resemblance to cambridgei where one of the main diagnostics is the two medial black bars on the carapace." 1 specimen found in May. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Undescribed Bark Crab Spider Isala sp ES01 iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Dr Miguel Machado for identifying this species for us ~4mm body length. Miguel's id is tentative, plus he's currently working on this group so things could change rapidly. Photographed 2 males in July. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Undescribed Crab Spider Sidymella sp ES01 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Dr Miguel Machado for identifying this species for us ~3mm body length. Miguel's id is tentative, plus he's currently working on this group so things could change rapidly. Photographed one male in June. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Trapezoid Crab Spider Sidymella trapezia iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Karen Weaving & BaronSamedi
for confirming the id of this species for us Anthony Paul told us about Sidymella longipes, which is very similar, but larger at just under 15mm. The male here being ~5.5mm is also slightly longer than 4mm; considered the size of S. trapezia males. While the female is ~7mm | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | High-browed Crab Spider Stephanopis altifrons iNaturalist | Na e m |
Thank you Suzanne and Jim for confirming the id of this species for us A fraction over 5mm long Male, with a very narrow eye pedestal. It is discussed they cover themselves with local debris for camouflage. While you can see sand on it here, the green is part of it's leg base colour. Which is a strange colour for our environment. We photographed 3 males in Feb & Mar. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Spotted Black Crab Spider Tharpyna cf campestrata | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | New Moon Crab Spider Tharpyna sp ES01 | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Black Crab Spider Tharpyna sp ES02 | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Rotund Flower Spider Tharrhalea sp ES01 | Na e m |
Pale green, small spider (~3mm), with a rotund abdomen. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Pointed Flower Spider Tharrhalea sp ES02 | Na a |
Pale green, small spider (~3.5mm), with a narrow abdomen. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Grey Crab Spider Tmarus sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Possibly T. marmoreus | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Hump Backed Crab Spider Tmarus sp ES02 | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Crab Spider Thomisidae | Milky Flower Spider Zygometis xanthogaster iNaturalist | Na e m a f | Thank you Suzanne and Jim & Dee Petersen for confirming the id of this species for us They are very variable with the specimen we found on Ellura being the yellow form. The name actually translates to: xanthogaster->(xanthos = "yellow") + (gaster = "belly"). It also makes sense as were millions of small yellow forbs flowering at the time it was found. Notice the one we found in the Adelaide Hills was white, under a white flower. Unusually the white one had no stripes at all (on the legs or carapace). Often the leg stripes are black. The yellow one was a very small female, ~4.5mm long (body & head), while the white one was a larger female ~7mm. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Venomless Spider Uloboridae | Venomless Spider Miagrammopes sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Tony J. Eales (TJEales) for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Ant Spider Zodariidae | Chequered Ant Spider Australutica sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ethan Yeoman & Ben Kurek for confirming the id of this species for us ~5.5mm long, so quite small. Superficially looks like a wolf spider. Quite unusual for a Zodariid. They are usually pretty hairless and dark/black. This one is quite hairy & pale brown. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Ant Spider Zodariidae | Ant Spider Habronestes cf hunti | Na e m | |||||
| Spiders Araneae | Ant Spider Zodariidae | Ant-eating Spider Habronestes cf pictus iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Ant Spider Zodariidae | Ant Spider Habronestes pseudoaustraliensis iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ethan Yeoman for confirming the id of this species for us 1st Live Photo on-line: We found two species within a metre of each other. One was ~5mm long, the other ~6mm. We think the larger one was gravid. Notice the eye arrangement & solid white line around the abodomen. Often Habronestes have the while line is broken into a couple of diagonal stripes. As with all spiders, the dorsal patterns are not reliable for id. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Ant Spider Zodariidae | Metallic Blue Ant Spider Habronestes sp ES01 iNaturalist | Na e m |
Similar Species: Blue Meat Ant (Iridomyrmex lividus) Thank you Darren Carman for identifying this species for us Very much like Swift spiders; they are very fast. It wouldn't surprise us if they are blue to mimick Blue Meat Ants (Iridomyrmex lividus) We perhaps went a bit overboard trying to show the white marks, and reflectived hue's, but just found it remarkable. Unfortunately we haven't managed to get a usable image of the female size, but estimate it's only slightly longer than the male (which is ~5mm). We have 3 sightings shown here (2f, 1m) and it's possible they are either different species or the same. It very obviously blue, and looks like an ant running on the ground. Has 2 white "racing" stripes on the side of the abdomen; the anterior one wraps around the front of the abdomen, but the rear stops half way up. Neither contunue underneath. There are also 2 elongated dots dorsally, with a single long stripe at the posterior. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Ant Spider Zodariidae | Cone-palp Swift Spider Leichhardteus conopalpis | Na e m | Thank you Ethan Yeoman for helping with the id of this species for us ~7-8mm long. We originally thought these were Cavasteron sp. But we saw Ethan id'ing some as Leichhardteus sp on iNat. Leichhardteus conopalpis is most likely based on location, and the spur on the palp seems to match the orginal description. We have better photo's to load soon. | ||||
| Spiders Araneae | Ant Spider Zodariidae | Orange Ant Spider Nosterella cf sp ES03 iNaturalist | Na e m | |||||
| Ticks Ixodida | Hard Tick Ixodidae | Southern Reptile Tick Bothriocroton hydrosauri | Na e m | Interesting how ones 1st instinct is to try and remove this tick. However, they are just as much a part of our native world as the shingleback. There is very little information on ticks, etc, and without proper diagnostics we are just guessing that this is the species due to location & host; all engorged female ticks look pretty similar. Not the tiny legs in these photos, they have 8; as do all arachnids. | ||||
| Harvestmens Opiliones | Harvestmen Neopilionidae | Harvestmen Megalopsalis sp | Na e m |
The Daddy Long-legs name is miss-leading in Australia as we also have Daddy Long-legs spiders, which look very similar, but are quite different. The visible difference between spiders & harvestmen is that harvestmen appear to have one single whole body. Spiders have an obvious distinction between the back (abdomen) & front (thorax). Harvestmen have no spinerets nor venom, but these differences are not visible. The species we have at Ellura looks like it has 12 legs! But it has 8 legs, like a spider, and 2 pairs of mouth parts. Two very long ones look like knees out the front (which are chelicerae), then two smaller helper feeders to their side (which would be palps). The long ones are pointed, while the side ones are rounded & hairy. Shahan Derkarabetian on iNaturalist said "They are always very cool to find. In this family the males have the extremely long chelicerae." | ||||
| Scorpions Scorpiones | Scorpion Bothriuridae | Wood Scorpion Cercophonius kershawi iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Mark Newton for identifying and Cael Gallery for confirming the id of this species for us S4 was ~9 SVL Note scorpions have 8 legs, like spiders, but their claws/pincers are additional and are actually modified pedipalps. We have photographed 8 of these in Apr, May, Jun & Jul. | ||||
| Scorpions Scorpiones | Scorpion Buthidae | Spider-hunting Scorpion Isometroides sp iNaturalist | Na r | Thank you Dr Erich Volschenk for identifying and Crowley Museum & Nature Center Inc. for helping with the id of this species for us ~12mm SVL Note the single pronged stinger. We thought this was Isometroides angusticaudus. Erich lifted it to genus saying "The distribution of the SA 'I. angusticaudus' is ~1500km from the type locality in Qld. Without more evidence, I'm very sceptical about these being the same species." We photographed 1 of these in Oct. | ||||
| Scorpions Scorpiones | Scorpion Buthidae | Two-toned Thicktail Scorpion Lychas cf jonesae iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ethan Yeoman for confirming and Dr Erich Volschenk for helping with the id of this species for us ~8mm long (SVL), ie not including the tail. This was a very non-agressive scorpion, keeping it's tail down most of the time to try and hide and become inconspicuous. Notice the 2-pronged spine, which differentiates scorpion groups. Thanks to Mark Hura, this 2-pronged spine is called a "subaculear spine". Erich made a note on our Lychas sp ES02 that the SA specimens of L. jonesae are part of a species complex in the L. jonesae group. In time they'll hopefully get their own species name. We photographed one in Mar. | ||||
| Scorpions Scorpiones | Scorpion Buthidae | Marbled Scorpion Lychas sp ES01 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Dr Erich Volschenk for identifying this species for us A small (body & head is around 10mm or so = ~10mm SVL) very pretty scorpion, but quite poisonous. The common name is very apt, being of marbled / scaloped patterns with various shades of brown. While marbled it is also quite striped; reminding us somewhat of a parquet floor (sharp edges with woodgrain). Aparantly the sting is very painful so watch out !-) They also fluoresce in UV light. We thought this was L. marmoreus, but Erich said "I think this might be one of the synonyms and not 'true' marmoreus. It's a bit on the pale side though which might indicate something in 'variatus group'? So lifted it to genus. We photographed one in Mar. | ||||
| Scorpions Scorpiones | Scorpion Buthidae | Small Marbled Scorpion Lychas sp ES02 iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Cael Gallery & Dr Erich Volschenk for confirming the id of this species for us ~8mm SVL. Note the "subaculear spine". Plus the 3 eyes lower down on the anterior margin (highlighted in the uv shot). Dr Erich Volschenk said "This one looks like a member of the L. jonesae group, but probably not 'true' jonesae." He clarified further by saying "Our studies to date (using DNA) indicate that L. jonesae is a complex with several species. We've focussed on the WA species so far, including specimens from the type locality. With this variation I'm cautious about the SA ones being the same. Morphologicaly, they seem to be members of this jonesae group." We photographed two of these in Mar & Dec. | ||||
| Mites Trombidiformes | Snout Mite Bdellidae | Red Snout Mite Bdellidae sp ES01 iNaturalist | Na m |
We asked Gerrut Norval, a local researcher, what the difference between a mite & a tick was. He said, with our thanks, "Ticks and mite belong to the same subclass, Acari, so they are related. Mites are a very diverse group of organisms with numerous families. Ticks fall into one of three families, the hard ticks (Ixodidae), the soft ticks (Argasidae), and Nuttalliellidae, which currently contains one species restricted to southern Africa. Hard ticks are the ones most people are familiar with. Soft ticks basically look like large mites and can be distinguished from hard ticks by the absence of a scutum." | ||||
| Mites Trombidiformes | Snout Mite Bdellidae | Rake-legged Mite Caeculidae sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Owen Seeman for confirming the id of this species for us 2nd Record in SA on Atlas: ~1mm long We thought it might be Microcaeculus sp. Owen said "Probably best left at the family level. The family is poorly worked on in Australia despite their abundance, and the genera Neocaeculus and Microcaeculus are difficult to impossible to distinguish." | ||||
| Mites Trombidiformes | Earth Mite Penthaleidae | Red-legged Earth Mite Halotydeus destructor iNaturalist | If e m a |
~1mm long | ||||
| Mites Trombidiformes | Velvet Mite Trombidiidae | Short-haired Red Velvet Mite Allothrombiinae sp iNaturalist | Na e m a | Thank you Ray Fisher for identifying this species for us We found what we think is a female being harrassed by some males. The larger (female) was ~5mm, while one of the smaller (male) was ~2.5mm. Tiny bright red scavenger with 8 legs. The hair is difficult to see with your naked eye. Notice the white patches are different coloured hair. | ||||
| Mites Trombidiformes | Velvet Mite Trombidiidae | Long-legged Red Velvet Mite Erythraeinae sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ray Fisher for identifying this species for us ~2mm long | ||||
| Mites Trombidiformes | Velvet Mite Trombidiidae | Long-haired Red Velvet Mite Trombidiidae sp iNaturalist | Na e m | Thank you Ray Fisher for identifying this species for us | ||||
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