Australian garden orb weaver spider

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Australian garden orb weaver spider

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Eriophora
Binomial name
Eriophora transmarina
(Keyserling, 1865)
Synonyms

Epeira transmarina
Epeira viridis
Epeira producta
Epeira thyridota
Epeira capitalis
Araneus productus
Aranea producta
Araneus capitalis
Araneus transmarinus

E. transmarina with captured prey
E. transmarina with captured prey

The Australian garden orb weaver spider (Eriophora transmarina) is a very common species of spider with many variants in size, shape and colour within Australia. They are often brightly coloured and have very large abdomens.

They are notable for the large and intricate webs which they weave at night. They are nocturnal feeders, resting head down in their webs to catch flying insects. They make their sticky rounded webs near lights and in between trees where insects are likely to fly. During the day the spider rests somewhere nearby the web, but not actually on it. To humans the bite gives mild, local pain for 30 minutes, strong for three to four hours.

The female can be distinguished by a needle-like epigynum protruding in the direction of the spinnerets.

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