Tent Spider

Description:

Cyrtophora moluccensis, commonly known as the "tent spider" or "dome-web spider", is native to India, Japan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Fiji, and Tonga. The orb web is built horizontally with a finely meshed dome or bowl shape, hence the common name. There are also a number of subspecies. (wikipedia) This spotting is female, and I have been watching her in her web since she arrived about 3 weeks ago. It has been fascinating to watch her catch and dispatch her prey, and eggsacs have only occurred within the past few days. Australian noisy miners (Manorina melanocephala) frequent this area and regularly sit upon the fence and patio railing, less than a metre from this spider's web. I have actually witnessed miners plucking spiders from their webs as food, so everyday I expect to find an empty web. Luckily, this spider seems to have gone largely unnoticed, which I find such a relief! The birds are obviously far-too-busy squabbling amongst themselves to have noticed her.

Habitat:

Suspended between trees and a fence in a suburban backyard in Brisbane, Queensland. This little area in my garden seems to be spider central - I've made a few spottings and have seen a number of species here.

Notes:

Here's a spotting I made over 10 years ago of a tent spider.... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/21... It has some good close-up photos and story. Detailed description courtesy of arachne.org.au