Category Archives: Spiders

Taking time to enjoy the moment

Posted on 8 September, 2022 by | 3 comments

For the last couple of months I’ve been gradually working my way around our house, cleaning and painting whenever the weather has been fine and sunny. I’m now onto the final wall which just happens to have been the most tedious to prepare and so I’ve been more easily distracted than usual from the work in hand. Listening to loud calls of a Great-billed Heron a couple of days ago gave me a great excuse to down tools and head to the bird hide. Not a water-bird in sight, but just as I was about to leave I noticed our resident crocodile, Betty, was slowly swimming around the pond. She provided a perfect excuse to indulge in a few peaceful minutes of observation until she hid behind some water chestnut.

Native stingless bees have established nests, or attempted to, in many places on our concrete block house. Green Ants use the house as a highway, spiders make webs and occasionally Sunbirds make nests. A Black Butcherbird regularly patrols the verandah looking for frogs and baby birds so the populations are kept in balance. Sometimes I think the Butcherbird might be taking more than his share but the frogs are still around, they have just got better at hiding! Anyway, back to the cleaning which disturbed the Green Ants and then the bees got nervous and suddenly there was a cloud of upset bees and some brutal murders taking place on the wall.

An interesting star pattern of ants but a rather gruesome end for the poor little stingless bee.

Another creature to suffer disturbance from my activities along the wall was this delicate and very striking Humped Silver Orb-weaver. When I first noticed it there was no web (I suspect I had blundered into it, intent on my cleaning work), and it was running up and down a single strand of web. I managed a couple of photos when it had a rest on the wall.

Leucauge dromedaria – Humped Silver Orb-weaver

Yesterday the spider had rebuilt its web but unfortunately the victims of its sticky strands were native bees – they have certainly been having a tough time here.

In the family Tetragnathidae (Long-jawed spiders) the Humped Silver Orb-weaver is found in parks and gardens from north Qld all the way south to Tasmania.
The afternoon light shows the delicate web and highlights the spider’s light green legs.

And the day I saw Betty I did return to the hide with a camera after lunch just in time to see her emerged from the water onto the bund wall to bask in the sun. It was such a treat to be able to see her out of the water, they are amazing creatures and deserve to be treated with respect for many different reasons.

Out of ‘Graham’s Pond’ and resting on the bund wall in the sun.
I find it particularly interesting to watch her move – trying to maximize her sun exposure then having to open her mouth to cool down a bit. In this side view it’s just possible to see some of the unique markings along the tail.

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Posted in Arachnids, Reptiles, Spiders, Spiders

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Autumn-Winter update ’22

Posted on 29 August, 2022 by | Leave a comment

While the temperatures were still quite high towards the end of summer this cheeky Carpet Python decided to cool off while perhaps hoping for a snack. As we felt it was probably not in a ‘sharing mood’ with all the birds wanting a turn in the birdbaths, the snake was gently encouraged to leave.

This unusual sight required gentle intervention.
A healthy and very clean snake!

Our tropical winter has seemed quite cool this year but this is very much a subjective observation. As we rely on passive climate control in our house we have been closing doors and some windows in the late afternoon to try and retain some warmth. I know that as we head towards our summer season these cool temperatures will rapidly become a distant memory.

In the last few weeks the Green Orioles have been announcing a change of the seasons, especially notable during their morning dawn chorus. The migratory Metallic Starlings have returned, chittering in the trees as they discuss their recent travel experiences and the Rufous Fantail which has been a frequent visitor to the birdbath for the last few months is no longer with us.

Pandercetes gracilis – Australian Lichen Spider

Now that I’ve identified this spider with Greg Anderson’s assistance I have found it in the garden on several occasions in spite of it’s very clever camouflage.

After consistent, steady rain yesterday it was lovely to get outside this morning for a walk around the tracks. Not many flowers at this time of the year but there is more than just green in a rainforest when you look closely.

Dillenia alata – Red Beech
Once a mowed path, now a natural track crossed by tree roots requiring some careful footsteps.
Floscopa Scandens

We originally identified a remnant patch of this plant with the help of a local botanist who said it was becoming harder to find. As it belongs to Commelinaceae it was not hard to propagate and plant in a few swampy areas. It is now well established and provides a lovely groundcover contrasting with areas of sedge along the edge of the wetlands.

Subtle colour but Floscopa Scandens has such a pretty flower.

When I returned from my walk I found this Green Tree snake moving along behind my plant pots on the verandah. We thought it was probably on a hunt for frogs but a Black Butcherbird keeps a close eye on our house frogs and they have got very good at hiding during the daylight hours.

Dendrelaphis punctulata – Green Tree snake

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Posted in Bird Observations, Restoration Rewards, Spiders, Wetland plants

Home and Happy

Posted on 19 April, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Since arriving home at the end of January I’ve found many reasons to postpone writing. Where to start after such a long gap between posts?
On October 11, 2019 we began ‘Travels in South-East Australia’ which included joyous reunions with friends, visiting a fabulous variety of wonderful landscapes in parts of Victoria and NSW, observing numerous special birds and sharing precious times with many family members.

As we departed Victoria towards the end of November the summer’s catastrophic fires were just starting to make a serious impact. Our route north along the NSW coast was disrupted by a road closure at Bateman’s Bay and planned visits to National Park areas were impossible. The days were often so smoky we didn’t venture far from camp. It was devastating to know that these horrendous fires were consuming so much of our natural landscape as well as threatening people and their homes. It was a minor inconvenience to our travel plans compared to what others have suffered and continue to suffer.

Our family Christmas in SE Qld, which for me was a grand highlight, was all the more relaxing when rain fell on Christmas Eve. Some water in the house tanks took pressure off the household restrictions and you could almost hear the crispy-dry bushland which surrounded us sighing with relief.

Atherton Tablelands – a spectacular view of a vast expanse of sky with storm clouds building up. We managed to dodge showers and storms quite successfully.

After spending our last ‘holiday’ week on the Atherton tablelands walking, bird watching and catching up with friends, we eventually made it home at the end of January. Never before have I experienced such a sense of relief at returning home. Allen didn’t quite share my emotion then, but since we are now all coping with travel restrictions as we come to grips with the Covid 19 pandemic we have both been feeling very grateful for our haven in the wet tropics.

Recently we have noticed there are many types of spider in great numbers around the house, in the garden and in the orchard. A Dome-web Orb-weaver in a garden near the house has been catching my attention each morning as palm flowers falling from above have decorated the web. The angle of the morning sun lights the web perfectly so it looks like fairy lights.

Dome-web Orb-weaver – Cyrtophora cylindroides
Female is underneath the dome and hard to see in this photo.

 Above the horizontal domed web there is a ‘retreat’ for the spider which does not appear to be particularly well formed in this example. Cyrtophora cylindroides belongs to the orb-web spiders, Araneidae although it does not build an orb-web. While tent-spiders are reasonably common from sub-tropical to tropical regions this accidentally decorated tent-like web is certainly eye catching.

Female Cyrtophora moluccensis with palm flowers
Painted St Andrew’s Cross Spider – Argiope picta

Argiope picta looked glorious with the morning sun lighting the web perfectly. When I walked past the following morning it had disappeared!

My reference for spider information is “A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia” by Robert Whyte and Greg Anderson. An excellent CSIRO publication that I would highly recommend.

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Posted in Arachnids, Road travel, Spiders

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