The amazing net-casting spiders
These spiders are called net-casting spiders because of their remarkable way of catching prey. Once you see one in action you'll probably be as much of a fan of them as I am. Australia's most common net-casting spiders are called Dinopis. |
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This Dinopis species was found in an inner-city suburb of Sydney |
If you live in Sydney there's a good chance you live pretty close to one of these amazing spiders. But thanks to their camouflage there's also a good chance you've never seen one. Without doubt, these spiders are some of my favourites and I always get a kick out of finding one. (Arachnophobes should not take me literally here. Some spiders may bite but I've never been kicked by one). |
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This Dinopis spider's body markings match the dead leaf almost perfectly |
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Casting their nets
The net which Dinopis makes is specially constructed so that it can be stretched. The spider hangs face-down over some place that some insects might walk, and it holds the net ready with its front legs. It then patiently waits for a critter to walk underneath it. Once something wanders within range the whole net-cast-catch thing is over in less than a second. It lunges over the critter and wraps the sticky net over it. The prey is quickly overwhelmed. I'll point out that these spiders tend to do this hanging-with-a-net thing more often at night, so in the daytime you're more likely to just see them hanging motionless, without their net, looking more like a bunch of twigs. |
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| A Dinopis spider with its net, waiting for something to wander within reach |
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From this angle it's possible to see the large pair of eyes which Dinopis spiders use to watch out for approaching prey. This angle also gives a hint about why these spiders are sometimes called 'ogre-faced spiders' |
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| A Dinopis spider with its egg sac. This photo was taken in the middle of winter |
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Close-up shot of the egg sac |
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| The following summer, a small hole appeared in the egg sac. The adult spider has long since disappeared |
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One big happy family. After leaving the egg sac, the spiderlings cluster together some place nearby. This cluster is about an inch and a half long |
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| Close-up shot of the spiderlings. Note the distinctive Dinopis pose with the front legs kept together. They will hold that pose until something disturbs them. In my case that's often the front of my camera lens bumping a nearby web that sends them into a panic |
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Even closer. These spiderlings are only 3 or 4 millimetres across their leg span. So if you find this many spiders disturbing then I'm pretty sure you'd be able to outrun them |
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| Bringing the camera around a little reveals that this guy, despite only being out of the egg sac a few days, is already on its way to having a nice ogre face like its mum |
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