The Find-a-spider Guide - Net-casting spider

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Net-casting spider

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Species:

Deinopis subrufa (JS, QM)

Previous species name:

Dinopis bicornis

Family:

Deinopidae
formerly Dinopidae

Body length:

female: 25 mm
male: 22 mm

Habitat:

The female of this species tends to be found in association with a few strands of web in green shrubbery but the male is often seen on flat vertical surfaces, including exterior walls and doors of houses; during the daylight hours a female Deinopis tends to remain inactive but at dawn or dusk it may be found with a rectangular net on Legs I and II ready to envelop any nearby insect

Toxicity:

This species is not known to be at all dangerous to humans


Female, side view	Male, side veiw	Under young male	egg sac
Spiderlings	Discarded net	Spider with net

Deinopis subrufa specimens are easy to recognize. The presence of the very large and forwards-facing pair of posterior median eyes and the long, slender legs and body are distinctive, the legs of the male at rest being aligned in pairs to form an X. On some specimens a pair of dorsolateral bumps are present half way along the abdomen and this was the reason for the earlier bicornis species name. This kind of spider is sometimes referred to as the ogre-faced spider because of its pair of large eyes, its relatively long and downwards-pointing chelicerae and projections on each side ot the face that point down and sideways and each carry a small anterior lateral eye. Short, slender palps lie beside the chelicerae and resemble human facial sideburns. It is not too difficult to find a specimen with its characteristic silken net stretched across its first and second pair of legs and abandoned nets are also sometimes found. Equally common when Deinopis is present is its spherical egg sac, attached to a twig by a robust strand of silk and characterized by a faint brown surface pattern. Once the spiderlings emerge from this they normally remain massed in a small communal web before finally dispersing.

Known Range: Probably present in most parts of Australia but particularly common along the East coast.

Email Ron Atkinson for more information. Last updated 8 January 2022.