Garden orbweb spider

Description:

A small to medium sized spider with a body length up to 12 mm. Makes the classic circular webs. At night they sit in the centre of their web waiting for any flying insects that get caught. When the insect is trapped, it wraps the prey in silk to reduce struggling, and then eats it at leisure. This individual is darker than most specimens, and possibly trying to camouflage herself. The final three photos of are of the little male in the center of the web.

Habitat:

Dry sclerophyll bushland. Her web was attached to wire fencing.

Notes:

Eating a large beetle. The small inset photo is the male, who was even smaller in comparison to the female than is depicted. He was hanging out on the center of her web.