What's an orb web?
Pretty much all of us have seen them. Orb webs are those round webs with a radiating structure of spokes like a bicycle wheel. Some orb webs can be very big and strong. The big nephila spiders in Northern Australia for example, have orb webs so big and strong that they can spring you backwards until you push through them. Other orb webs are so tiny that they’re hard to see.

An orb web covered with dew

By the way, if you do walk into a large orb web then a good thing to do is to carefully retreat and then most of the web should peel right back off you. That's easier said than done, I know, because it can be hard not to freak out a bit. So I'll point out something that might be encouraging: I don't know of any orb weaving spider that is considered dangerous to people. And when you think about it, why would orb weavers need powerful venom anyway? Because their webs do such a brilliant job at catching and immobilising prey. So that's a reassuring thought for all you people thrashing about first thing in the morning in some newly-spun orb web.

So here are some of the more common orb-weaving spiders from the east coast of Australia.

St Andrew's Cross spider (Argiope aetherea)

The St Andrew's Cross spider looks quite different depending on which side you look at it

This decorative spider hangs head-downwards in the middle of its web, with its legs stretched out over the cross. The ones you'll see are most probably females because the males are smaller and harder to find. Look around the edges of the web and you might see one. It has a similar shape to the females but is less colourful and definitely smaller.

There are about 20 different members of the Argiope genus in Australia.

Golden orb weaver (Nephila ornata)
Here's another common spider, especially around late summer and early Autumn when you might find lots of them hanging around places like power lines and trees. The photo at right should help you recognise it. I've made a whole page about this spider. So, more about the Golden Orb Weaver spider here.

Nephila ornata

Other nephila species
There are other spiders in this group. It's pretty safe to call them Golden orb weavers.

In northern Australia they can get pretty big. For example, Nephila maculata is one impressive big spider. Living in the tropical north of Australia, these handsome critters make very strong - and big - orb webs. Their web is so strong that some indigenous people have found some clever uses for them. For example, they might swing a stick through their webs, tangling up the spiders and their webs, and use those spidery tangles to lure and trap fish.

These spiders eat insects that get caught in the web, but they have a reputation for eating birds too. With a web so big (over a metre across) and strong it’s not surprising that it could happen. These spiders have been seen feeding on the birds, but I stress that it is not their usual diet.

A large Nephila spider in
southern Queensland

Garden orb weaver
If you walk out your front door in the morning and get a face full of giant orb web that wasn't there the night before, then chances are you've got a Garden orb weaver. This is a common spider, so I've lost count of the number of times I've walked into those webs. These spiders make a new web each night, sometimes where you least expect them. They hang around in it until the morning when they'll climb up to hide under a leaf or some other shelter like the eaves of your house. You can usually spot them by looking for convenient hiding spots above their web and near one of the support strands.

These spiders are big, heavy-bodied, hairy, and harmless. They are mostly grey or brown. Because they make a new web each night, you can get a good chance to watch how they make them.

A garden orb weaving spider crouched
in its daytime hiding position. That rear leg held over its body is resting on a line that leads to its web

Six-spined spider (Gasteracantha minax)
These are strange but also beautiful spiders. The abdomen is large and has prominent spines, which certainly explains the name. The rest of the abdomen is decorated with spots and stripes. These ones were photographed in the southern highlands district of NSW but they will turn up in each of the states of Australia

Six-spined spider

It's easy to see how the Leaf-curling spider got its name. This one is just visible in its shelter, which is how you usually see them

That picture above shows off its hiding place nicely but doesn't show much of the spider. So here's a good look at a Leaf-curling spider out in the open