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Araneus nigropunctatus?
Fact Box
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Species: |
Araneus nigropunctatus? (identification uncertain; see notes below)
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Body length: |
female: 4 mm
male: about 2 mm
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Habitat: |
This species may build a small orb web between dry twigs but the specimen shown here was actually hiding under loose bark on a eucalypt tree
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Toxicity: |
This species is probably too small to be a hazard to humans
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The spider shown on this page almost certainly belongs to the genus Araneus, though this will probably change when an extensive revision
of the Australian Araneus species is carried out. The species name is much less certain. Its dorsal appearance, including its shape and the lines
on its upper abdomen, are very similar to those of a spider known as Araneus nigropunctatus as drawn and named by L. Koch in 1871. The spider in the above
images is an adult female and its epigynum also resembles that drawn by Koch. Unfortunately, Araneus nigropunctatus is rarely seen so
no recent and verified photos of it appear to be available in books or on the internet. The Atlas of Living Australia indicates that museum specimens
of this species are labelled as having come from South Australia (up to the Queensland border) and Lord Howe Island so it is not impossible for this
species to also be present in South-east Queensland, which is where the spider shown on this page was found.
Spider(s) with a very similar appearance: Some small araneids.
Email Ron Atkinson for more information.
Last updated 22 April 2017.
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