Salsa fuliginata

Sooty Orb-weaver at Charleys Forest, NSW

Salsa fuliginata at Charleys Forest, NSW - suppressed
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Identification history

Salsa fuliginata 31 Mar 2023 MichaelMulvaney
Unverified 30 Mar 2023 arjay

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4 comments

EmmaCollins wrote:
   31 Mar 2023
This one also isn't Salsa, the tubercles on abdomen are indicative of Hortophora too.
arjay wrote:
   31 Mar 2023
Do single spider species have varying colours? If so is it due to different stages in life cycle or just variation like some people have red hair and some are blondes?
EmmaCollins wrote:
   3 Apr 2023
It's different for each species, some have a very wide variety of colours, whereas others will just come in one/two colours and thus can be an identifying feature of that species.
It can be both an indicator of life cycle, such as in redbacks (Latrodectus hasselti) where the juveniles will have quite vibrant white/light red markings and won't develop their trademark red stripe until they've moulted a few times.
But for those spiders that do have variation in colour, it is just a natural genetic variation like human hair/eye colour.
arjay wrote:
   3 Apr 2023
Interesting. Thanks. And there I was thinking all these multicoloured spiders might all be different species.
Did anyone actually decide what these two are? Are they the Salsa or the Hortophora?

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Location information

Sighting information

Additional information

  • 12mm to 25mm Animal size

Species information

  • Salsa fuliginata Scientific name
  • Sooty Orb-weaver Common name
  • Not Sensitive
  • Local native
  • Non-invasive or negligible
  • Up to 1581m Recorded at altitude
  • External link More information
  • Synonyms

    Cyclosa fuliginata (Sooty Orb-weaver)

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
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