Austracantha minax
Christmas Spider, Jewel Spider at Molonglo Valley, ACT
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| Austracantha minax | KimPullen | 2 Feb 2018 | |
| Austracantha minax | HarveyPerkins | 1 Feb 2018 | |
| Unverified | HarveyPerkins | 18 Nov 2017 |
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4 comments
19 Nov 2017
I have no idea what these little cocoons are made by. I've submitted under 'moths' but I really don't know. The binding of the cocoon to the stems suggests the structure was constructed from the inside and working outwards (whereas lepidopterous cocoons normally start on the outside and finish inside). So maybe an egg case? My only other comment at this stage is that the skeletonising of a eucalypt leaf by a Uraba lugens larva is evident in the second photo.
31 Jan 2018
I collected one of these a while ago and was surprised to see spiders hatch from it. With some googling, I discovered these are the egg sacs of the Jewel Spider, Austracantha minax
1 Feb 2018
Thank you CathB! Great to have that mystery solved. I thought it had to be an egg sac of some sort but I didn't think of a spider as a possibility. Although I can't recall seeing Christmas/Jewel spiders at this particular location this year, they are abundant just across Caswell Drive (as was) on the lower slopes of Black Mountain.
18 Jul 2020
Hi. Thanks for this conversation. I have 4 of these egg sacks in my lime tree, a tree were during summer Christmas jewel spiders were living (don't know were they hide during winter) First noticed in February and after 5 months in July I could not resist to cut one off the tree and see what was inside. To my surprise there were many many very small spiders in the cocoon. Porongurup WA South West.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.081385-35.284261
- Maps National Arboretum Forests
- Places Molonglo Valley, ACT
Sighting information
- 2 Abundance
- 14 Oct 2017 09:28 AM Recorded on
- HarveyPerkins Recorded by
- 12mm to 25mm Animal size
Collections
- HarveyPerkins Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Austracantha minax Orb-weaving spiders (several families) Spiders
Species information
- Austracantha minax Scientific name
- Christmas Spider, Jewel Spider Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 966.7m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
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Synonyms
Gasteracantha minax
Record quality
Quality score
4 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Additional attributes
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description