Telaprocera maudae

Fact Box Species: Telaprocera maudae (This identification is based on the contents of a Zootaxa paper by A.M.T. Harmer and V.W. Framenau - see notes below for more details) Family: Araneidae Body length: female: about 10 mm male: about 6 mm Habitat: This species builds a round orb web with ladder-like extensions above and below it and so is called the ladder-web spider Toxicity: Unknown but probably not hazardous to humans

View from above Oblique view

This species was first described in the following paper: Harmer AMT and Framenau VW (2008) "Telaprocera (Araneae: Araneidae), a new genus of Australian orb-web spiders with highly elongated webs" Zootaxa 1956 59-80. The only other named member of this genus is Telaprocera joanae, which is sometimes also called the lichen-mimic orb weaver because it has green colouring on it dorsal abdomen and has been seen in rainforests in association with patches of green lichen. The ranges of these two species overlap to a large extent though T. maudae can be found in Far North Queensland down to Central NSW whereas T. joanae is found from mid-north Queensland down to the north-east of Victoria. For both species the usual habitat is dense coastal or near-coastal rainforest.

Spider(s) with a very similar appearance: Araneus arenaceus and some other ananeid species.