Greetings fellow Foxies,
For months I had been intrigued by dewy fairy house webs that form sheets across the ground from the base of a low plant in open country. At first I attempted to return to a web after the dew had gone to find that it had disappeared. After worrying about early onset dementia I tagged the spot and returned again to find a small hole in the ground and realised that the spider ate its web each morning to recycle the precious silk for an evening spin.
Anyway I returned again with the next dew with a supply of flies and pill bugs and almost froze my butt off dropping them into webs and waiting for a magnificent trapdoor type spider to leap out. After waiting and waiting, I realised that the occupant was an exceptionally shy and squirty specimen that would go after prey several times its size but disappear whenever I tried to take a photo.
Patience prevailed and I was able to get an image good enough to identify it as a tangle-web spider (Theridiidae family Steatoda species.) that is faintly related to the redback spider (Latrodectus species). They are called false widows in some countries but are not at all dangerous – particularly this reclusive individual!
For months I had been intrigued by dewy fairy house webs that form sheets across the ground from the base of a low plant in open country. At first I attempted to return to a web after the dew had gone to find that it had disappeared. After worrying about early onset dementia I tagged the spot and returned again to find a small hole in the ground and realised that the spider ate its web each morning to recycle the precious silk for an evening spin.
Anyway I returned again with the next dew with a supply of flies and pill bugs and almost froze my butt off dropping them into webs and waiting for a magnificent trapdoor type spider to leap out. After waiting and waiting, I realised that the occupant was an exceptionally shy and squirty specimen that would go after prey several times its size but disappear whenever I tried to take a photo.
Patience prevailed and I was able to get an image good enough to identify it as a tangle-web spider (Theridiidae family Steatoda species.) that is faintly related to the redback spider (Latrodectus species). They are called false widows in some countries but are not at all dangerous – particularly this reclusive individual!
 Flat spreading web |  Entry funnel in web |  At entrance |  Emerging |