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| | Silver Orb Spider
- Leucauge granulata (L. dromedaria)
FAMILY TETRAGNATHIDAE
- This page contains pictures and information about Silver Orb Spiders that
we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia. Silver Orb Spiders are also known as Silver Camel Spiders.
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 - Body length 10mm
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- Silver Orb spiders have
the bright silver oval-shaped abdomens with black patterns.
Their long legs and head are yellowish green to dark green in colour. They are common in
Brisbane bushes
and backyards, especially in moisture areas.
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- The spiders also are known as Horizontal Orb Spider.
They build inclined or horizontal orb webs, although vertical webs can
sometimes be seen. They build complete orb web without stabilimentum.
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- The spiders build webs above one meter from ground, about one meter in
diameter. Those webs are either built above shrubs or near water. They
targeted to trap those flying insects that landing or ascending on/from
plants/water surface.
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- Because of their long
legs, they can build the web with wide space between radii, i.e., less radii
are needed. Also the silks used are thin and the webs look weak (comparing with Araneidae). They wait for their prey in the middle
of the web both day and night.
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- When waiting for prey on horizontal orb web, they hang at the centre of the
web with its back facing the ground. Its camouflage colours are the same theme
as the fish body's colour, i.e., darker on the upper side and silvery near the
lower side. From the bottom of the web the preys sees the silver colour that
mimic the sky. Looking from the top see the dark grenn-yellow patterns which
mimic the plants on below.
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- Silver Orb Spiders like
to build webs near fresh water, such as creek or pond. Because of their
web is horizontal, it easily traps the insects fly up after drinking water.
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- Males look similar but smaller size with longer legs. They are less
often seen than females.
- Reference:
- 1. Wildlife
of Greater Brisbane - Queensland Museum 1995, p34.
- 2. Leucauge
granulata - The Find-a-spider Guide for the Spiders of
Southern Queensland, Dr Ron Atkinson, 2009.
- 3. Leucauge granulata (Silver Orb Spider)
- Robert Whyte, Save Our Waterways Now.
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