Spider Pictures

Lydbrook, Forest of Dean, UK, July 1995. The green orb-weaver, Araniella cucurbitana. Body length about 8mm. Female (?).

Stratford, London, UK, August 1998. Araneus diadematus. Body length 12mm. Female. This picture is on my business cards!

Frankston, Victoria, Oz, January 1994. I thought this was Delena cancerides, but Dave Rowell of the Australian National University tells me it is a species of Isopoda: Delena cancerides do not carry their eggsacs with them. Body length about 30mm. Because of the eggsac, obviously female.

Sydney Taronga Zoo, NSW, Oz, January 2001. I think this is a Synalus angustus. Body length about 25mm. Female?

Stratford, London, UK, July 1996. From the eyes it's a wolf spider, from the legs it's probably Coelotes terrestris. Probably male. Body length 10mm.

Hayle, Cornwall, UK, September 1998. Another Araneus diadematus, but note the different base colour and markings.
Despite the scale difference, this body length is 12mm, similar to the Stratford specimen above.

Christmas Hills, Victoria, Oz, February 2001. Argiope species, I think versicolor. Seen from underneath, so difficult to identify (but pretty!) Body length about 15mm.

Lullingstone Castle, Kent, UK, July 1996. A wolf spider carrying her young. The young are hiding identifying marks, but I think it is Pardosa amentata. Body length about 10mm, but the spiderlings make this an estimate.

This picture was taken at an animal sanctuary in St Erth, Cornwall, September 2002. It is a Colombian Brown Velvet Tarantula (Pamphobeteus vespertinum), and those are my hands holding it! Body length about 50mm. These spiders are often found in petting zoos because they are are placid and slow-moving. She just walked slowly and daintily onto my hands, stayed stock-still for the photos and then walked off again onto the keeper's hands. Philip took the photo, so this is not strictly one of mine.

Christmas Hills, Victoria, Oz, January 2001. This is, I think, a Nephila ornata. It is one of the golden orb-weaving spiders, so-called because their web silk has a distinctly golden colour. Body length about 20mm. This one had built a 1 metre-diameter web from rail to roof of the verandah, and it was fun standing behind it and watching all the blood-hungry flies getting trapped and killed. The two untidy strands at 1o'clock and 10 o'clock represent part of a well-stocked larder.

Cairns, Queensland, Oz, January 2001. A spiny spider (Gasteracantha fornicata). Body is about 10mm from side to side. These spiders have hard, spiny skins, making them unpalatable to birds. Hence the standard black-and-yellow warning colours.

Stratford, London, UK, July 1996. The Woodlouse Spider, Dysdera crocata - the same as the spider that bit me. Body length about 10mm.This one has a missing back leg, but the joints are designed to allow legs to break off for escape. They re-grow from the buds.

Lydbrook, Forest of Dean, May 1998. The flower spider, Misumena vatia. This is a young specimen, body about 3mm length. These spiders have a limited ability to change colour, and can be white, light green, or yellow. They wait on flowers for pollinating insects to come to feed. Because of their traditional pose, with front legs spread wide, they are also called crab spiders.

Stratford, London, UK, July 1996. The spitting spider, Scytodes thoracica. Body length about 6mm. These spiders catch their prey by spitting poisoned silk over them and, unusually, the silk comes from the front end and not the rear. Because of their markings they are also known as leopard spiders.

Stratford, London, UK, August 1998. Body length 5mm. I had tentatively identified this spider as a Segestria senoculata, but Niclas Fritzén of Helsinki, Finland has correctly identified it as a male Steatoda bipunctata. Thanks Niclas!