Tasmanicosa Wolf Spider, Red Hill Nature Reserve
Tasmanicosa Wolf Spider, Red Hill Nature Reserve
 I do like the head-on shots, the eyes would be nightmare material if these were not small spiders
I do like the head-on shots, the eyes would be nightmare material if these were not small spiders
 Union Jack Wolf Spider at Red Hill Nature Reserve
Union Jack Wolf Spider at Red Hill Nature Reserve
 Side view of a Garden Wolf Spider
Side view of a Garden Wolf Spider
 Leaf-curling Spider
Leaf-curling Spider
 Saint Andrew's Cross Spider at Parsley Bay, Sydney
Saint Andrew's Cross Spider at Parsley Bay, Sydney
 A Badge Huntsman Spider released from my house
A Badge Huntsman Spider released from my house
 Front view of a male Badge Huntsman resting on a tree trunk
Front view of a male Badge Huntsman resting on a tree trunk
A huntsman spider on the tree
A huntsman spider on the tree
 Social Huntsman and young in the brochure box
Social Huntsman and young in the brochure box
 Huntsman Spider
Huntsman Spider
 Front view of a Beautiful Badge Huntsman
Front view of a Beautiful Badge Huntsman
Immature huntsman spider hiding in detritus on the underside of an olive tree leaf
Immature huntsman spider hiding in detritus on the underside of an olive tree leaf
Garden Orb Weaver at Red Hill Nature Reserve
Garden Orb Weaver at Red Hill Nature Reserve
 Underside view of the Garden Orb Weaver female
Underside view of the Garden Orb Weaver female
Female Golden Orb Weaver at Nielsen Park
Female Golden Orb Weaver at Nielsen Park
 A female Golden Orb Weaver
A female Golden Orb Weaver
 Knobbled Orbweaver on a lavender plant
Knobbled Orbweaver on a lavender plant
 Long-jawed Spider at Mount Mugga Mugga Nature Reserve
Long-jawed Spider at Mount Mugga Mugga Nature Reserve
 Jovial Jumping Spider with prey, Red Hill Nature Reserve
Jovial Jumping Spider with prey, Red Hill Nature Reserve
 Black House Spider
Black House Spider
 Black House Spider with a European Honey Bee, showing the relative size
Black House Spider with a European Honey Bee, showing the relative size
 Black House Spider
Black House Spider
 Water droplets on a spider web from a morning fog
Water droplets on a spider web from a morning fog
Top view of a female Christmas Jewel Spider melanistic form
Top view of a female Christmas Jewel Spider melanistic form
Underside view
Underside view
An immature orb-weaver spider moving from one leaf to another in the rain
An immature orb-weaver spider moving from one leaf to another in the rain
Jumping Spider on my knuckles
Jumping Spider on my knuckles
 Knobbled Orbweaver eating a beetle
Knobbled Orbweaver eating a beetle
 Bird-dropping Spider
Bird-dropping Spider
 Wrap-around Spider
Wrap-around Spider
 Two-tailed Spider on a tree trunk that distracted me while photographing the Lorikeets
Two-tailed Spider on a tree trunk that distracted me while photographing the Lorikeets
Tasmanicosa Wolf Spider, Red Hill Nature Reserve
Tasmanicosa Wolf Spider, Red Hill Nature ReserveThe next spider down was in a hole where two rocks joined. I was a little disconcerted when I put my hand near the hole opening to move some inconvenient vegetation prompting the spider to come out of its hole towards my hand. I was a little surprised but quickly recovered as I realised the spider was in a better spot to photograph. (Full blog post)
I do like the head-on shots, the eyes would be nightmare material if these were not small spiders
I do like the head-on shots, the eyes would be nightmare material if these were not small spiders(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/10 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/4/29/a-large-australian-wood-duck-family-and-macro-shooting-including-my-first-frogs-photographing-around-canberra-in-april-2020
Union Jack Wolf Spider at Red Hill Nature Reserve
Union Jack Wolf Spider at Red Hill Nature ReserveThe next relfection I saw made me more confident to investigate it, causing me to find this lovely Union Jack Wolf Spider. It was about twice the size of the first spider. There were a number so sugar ants crawling about, including one that went under this spider’s legs. I thought I was going to see a hunting shot but this spider quickly avoided the ant, jumping away from it. (Full blog post)
Side view of a Garden Wolf Spider
Side view of a Garden Wolf Spider(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/10 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/4/29/a-large-australian-wood-duck-family-and-macro-shooting-including-my-first-frogs-photographing-around-canberra-in-april-2020
Leaf-curling Spider
Leaf-curling SpiderI recall as a young child spending an interesting time with a very elderly gentleman who was a friend of my parents. I was there as he was a bit of an expert on the local wildlife around where I grew up. He was an original Anzac and was a past student at the high school I would eventually attend. He had a curio cabinet filled with specimens related to the wildlife of the local area. I can still recall him showing me a leaf that had been wrapped around by a Leaf-curling Spider (Phonognatha graeffei). I never forgot it, constantly remembering it when I walked around our neighbourhood seeing these spiders in their clever camouflaged home. When I saw one at Casuarina Sands I thought it was a good opportunity to take a photograph, as I have not found many of them around Canberra, well not as many as I remember in Sydney, where they were easily seen. As you can see in the first photograph this female has placed the curled leaf in the middle of its orb web, as this spider is considered one of the orb weavers. After making a web the spider will select a leaf that has fallen on the ground which she then hauls back up to the web. She then curls it over, using her silk to secure it. Once you see the leaf in the web it is easy to know which spider you are looking at.
Saint Andrew's Cross Spider at Parsley Bay, Sydney
Saint Andrew's Cross Spider at Parsley Bay, SydneyI was also happy to get this photograph of this female Saint Andrew’s Cross Spider (Argiope keyserlingi) even though its web was not yet showing the full Saint Andrew’s cross. The size and colour indicate this as a female. Because the canopy was so thick, making it hard for light to penetrate, this spider was still sitting in the middle of its orb web. I do love the colours of the spider.
A Badge Huntsman Spider released from my house
A Badge Huntsman Spider released from my houseAs I was getting ready to go to work one day I noticed a Badge Huntsman Spider (Neosparassus sp.) on the main hall ceiling. It was sitting there still. Even when the lights came on it did not budge. My wife is absolutely scared of spiders. I figured I could spray it with insect spray but that would kill the spider, which I did not want to do as these eat the insects my wife hates like cockroaches. I was rushing to leave so I did not have time to catch it then release it. I was also annoyed I would not have an opportunity to photograph it, as I have hardly seen any spiders. Thus, I concluded, the best course of action was to leave it put. My wife and son are not morning people so I figured there was not much chance of them noticing it before my son went to school. I hoped by that time the spider would have crawled off to a day time hollow to conceal itself and my wife would be none the wiser. (Full post)
Front view of a male Badge Huntsman resting on a tree trunk
Front view of a male Badge Huntsman resting on a tree trunk (Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/14 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/5/26/macrophotography-around-canberra-may-2020
A huntsman spider on the tree
A huntsman spider on the tree(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/16 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/10/5/the-biggest-huntsman-i-have-photographed-photographing-around-lake-burley-griffin-on-saturday-night-3-october-2020
Social Huntsman and young in the brochure box
Social Huntsman and young in the brochure box
Huntsman Spider
Huntsman Spider
Front view of a Beautiful Badge Huntsman
Front view of a Beautiful Badge Huntsman (Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/10 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)
Immature huntsman spider hiding in detritus on the underside of an olive tree leaf
Immature huntsman spider hiding in detritus on the underside of an olive tree leaf (Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/9.0 and 1/180 SEC] with Canon 430EX III-RT flash)
Garden Orb Weaver at Red Hill Nature Reserve
Garden Orb Weaver at Red Hill Nature ReserveI also found this female Garden Orb Weaver (Eriophora sp.) n a partially destroyed spider web. I was able to see both sides of the spider. I thought it was repairing a broken web but I then noticed a black object it seemed to have at its fangs. Looking at the photographs later I guessed the object was an insect, which had been caught in the web. The web was in a bad way along the bottom threads but this spider was focussed on its food parcel. I was really pleased with the detail which came out in the two shots below, which have inspired me to try this again another time hopefully in the next few weeks. (Full blog post)
Underside view of the Garden Orb Weaver female
Underside view of the Garden Orb Weaver female (Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/16 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/10/5/the-biggest-huntsman-i-have-photographed-photographing-around-lake-burley-griffin-on-saturday-night-3-october-2020
Female Golden Orb Weaver at Nielsen Park
Female Golden Orb Weaver at Nielsen ParkI will go as far as to say this is one of the species of the Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila spp). As I was leaving Nielsen Park, the sun striking the spider and web caught my attention. There was a slight wind so the spider was not completely still. At one stage the spider thought it had caught something so rushed to the bottom of its web. There was nothing there so the spider returned empty-handed. This is a female, given her size, but I was unable to see if there were any males around the edge of the web where they often are. (Full blog post)
A female Golden Orb Weaver
A female Golden Orb Weaver
Knobbled Orbweaver on a lavender plant
Knobbled Orbweaver on a lavender plant
Long-jawed Spider at Mount Mugga Mugga Nature Reserve
Long-jawed Spider at Mount Mugga Mugga Nature ReserveApproaching the pond I could see a number of spider’s webs, with spiders in them. These turned out to be a number of Long-jawed Spiders, with possibly four different types in the small area I was in. These spiders are common along water ways during daylight hours according to A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia. The first photograph below shows the large chelicerae (or jaws) that give this spider family its name. All these spiders were being very successful in catching mayflies. The second photograph shows two of these spiders who seemed to share a net anchoring location. They appeared to clash with the right-hand spider advancing first to the join, before the left-hand one also came to investigate. The right-hand spider seemed to be the loser, swinging away on some silk before returning to a more central location in its web. I do not think they were male and female mating. The final photograph shows yet another variation of this spider. (full blog post)
Jovial Jumping Spider with prey, Red Hill Nature Reserve
Jovial Jumping Spider with prey, Red Hill Nature ReserveWalking along, my attention was drawn to a yellowish, brown oval spinning on the end of a silk thread which seemed to be attached to some bark. The oval made its way back to the bark where I saw it was a female Jovial Jumping Spider (Ocrisiona jovialis) with a cockroach. (The white hairy palps show this is a female.) The spider stayed on the bark for a while, gripping the cockroach. I looked away to set-up my tripod and the spider, with its meal, had disappeared. I assumed the spider had caught the cockroach, which had tried to escape by jumping from the bark but the spider had attached a silk line to the bark, allowing it to pull itself and the cockroach back to the bark. Looking at the relative sizes it was clear how strong the spider was. These spiders have great eyesight and are very fast. (Full blog post)
Black House Spider
Black House Spider
Black House Spider with a European Honey Bee, showing the relative size
Black House Spider with a European Honey Bee, showing the relative size(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 800, 100mm, f/6.3 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/4/29/a-large-australian-wood-duck-family-and-macro-shooting-including-my-first-frogs-photographing-around-canberra-in-april-2020
Black House Spider
Black House Spider
Water droplets on a spider web from a morning fog
Water droplets on a spider web from a morning fog (Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/13 SEC] two shot focus stack)https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/5/26/macrophotography-around-canberra-may-2020
Top view of a female Christmas Jewel Spider melanistic form
Top view of a female Christmas Jewel Spider melanistic form (Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 2000, 100mm, f/5.6 and 1/400 SEC])https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/7/20/australian-pelican-blue-faced-honeyeater-lace-monitor-and-other-amazing-wildlife-photographing-north-of-newcastle-australia-in-november-2019
Underside view
Underside view (Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 2000, 100mm, f/5.6 and 1/500 SEC])https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/7/20/australian-pelican-blue-faced-honeyeater-lace-monitor-and-other-amazing-wildlife-photographing-north-of-newcastle-australia-in-november-2019
An immature orb-weaver spider moving from one leaf to another in the rain
An immature orb-weaver spider moving from one leaf to another in the rain (Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/16 and 1/180 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/9/26/a-rain-drenched-orb-weaver-spider-and-rain-drops-on-leaves-photographing-around-home-on-a-wet-sunday-afternoon-20-september-2020
Jumping Spider on my knuckles
Jumping Spider on my knuckles(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/320 SEC])https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2020/10/22/gang-gang-cockatoos-other-parrots-and-some-cute-jumping-spiders-photographing-around-red-hill-nature-reserve-and-hughes-in-mid-october-2020
Knobbled Orbweaver eating a beetle
Knobbled Orbweaver eating a beetle
Bird-dropping Spider
Bird-dropping Spider
Wrap-around Spider
Wrap-around Spider
Two-tailed Spider on a tree trunk that distracted me while photographing the Lorikeets
Two-tailed Spider on a tree trunk that distracted me while photographing the Lorikeets (Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/11 and 1/180 SEC] with Canon 430EX III-RT flash)
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