Never used to be a spider person but jumping spiders are so cute that I now look for spiders around the house. The Top End Jungle Huntsman is a stunner.
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My place in Canberra hasn’t had much
But when I lived in Brisbane it was spider heaven at my boring suburban house.
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https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=47118&user_id=thunderhead&verifiable=any
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=47119&user_id=thunderhead&verifiable=any
There are 66 species of spiders that I’ve found. The species count is 84 when its arachnids.
iNaturalist has done wonders for my innate fear of the crawlies!
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I was very surprised to see that the most common spider in my [sort of] veranda, is only the 59th of spiders observations in my region, southeastern France. Very discreet, Uloborus plumipes really looks like a piece of debris, so that when you see the net, you might wonder where the spider could be. There was also Holocnemus pluchei in my veranda, but it’s very messy and I get rid of it every time I see one.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165020792
Same Subfamily Uloborinae as the Philoponella congregabilis above, in Canberra.
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93 species so far! Mostly from my backyard, though hope to go to a few more locations next year! https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?preferred_place_id=1&taxon_id=47118&user_id=macrotim&verifiable=any&view=species
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there are 80ish species recorded on inat from my 800sqkm city (we have dozen mountains in city lol) and my fav is Macracantha hasselti; I think there are 2x more species in reality.
image @eggshe11
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I’ve documented at least 36 species in my city so far - most notably Theridion pennsylvanicum. My observation being only one of nine so far. One of six that are RG.
We have a spectacular no-name yet very common Gasteracantha species in the wider Darwin area. Got to love those spiky spiders!
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I’ve observed 313 spiders with 33 species in my area, my top species is Trochosa Sepulchralis. Specifically in my home however, I commonly get all kinds of theridiidae, tan jumpers, and eastern parson spiders.
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Many, many spiders! And I’m still on the lookout, there has to be more of them! See ya in 2026 with the 100th species!
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En vista cuadrĂcula, how do you get the pictures smaller? I have 43 observations of spiders at the old place (including Lake Lure, since I drew a rectangle including all the places where my obscured obs at home are obscured to), 4 across, and it’s way bigger than my browser window.
At the old place, the most common indoor spiders are pholcids. My first spider ob was a dolomede, which I asked about on Slack, and someone pointed me to iNat. My longest observation (it went on for a few days, as I wasn’t yet aware of “same individual over time”) was a Neoscona. I’ve seen several Argiopae aurantiae, outside both old and new houses and in the woods. I’ve seen crab spiders, an arrowhead orbweaver, theridiids, and a jumping spider.
At the new house, I have pholcids, some theridiids (Parasteatoda and maybe Steatoda), funnel webs in the window (probably the same as this), and a jumping spider. My first Argiope is in that rectangle.
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Nice! I don’t normally search for spiders, but my brother (who loves spiders) often finds them for me.
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i think no ecological study is done on it recently to find exact functional causal relationship explanations on why the subfamily has such prominent spines with energetic costs, but here are some valid hypothesis:
Some spiders, especially Gasteracantha and Micrathena spp. (Araneidae), are covered by a leathery integument and an armature of strong, sharp spines. In some cases, where the spiders are cryptically coloured, these spines may help to break up the outline of the abdomen; but in others, where their owners have brilliant colours and hang, always exposed, in the centre of the web, it is probable that their function is defensive (Peckham, 1889; Robinson, 1980) perhaps by rendering them relatively inedible to birds or too large to fit into a wasp’s nest. Of course, no defence is perfect and some do get eaten. It is also possible that spines may be a cooling device much needed by a spider that hangs on its web in the sun. No doubt the spines have more than one function.
A review of the anti-predator devices of spiders https://archive.org/details/bulletin-british-arachnological-society-10-081-096/page/n3/mode/2up
another subfamily
Species with extremely long spines evolved at least eight times in the [Micrathena] genus and we suggest that this may be related to antipredator defences.
Phylogenetic analysis of Micrathena and Chaetacis spiders (Araneae: Araneidae) reveals multiple origins of extreme sexual size dimorphism and long abdominal spineshttps://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article-abstract/166/1/14/2629156
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