Spiders
Orb-weaving spiders (several families)
Sighting 4568863

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Identification history

Araneidae (family) 27 Apr 2024 ibaird
Psychidae (family) IMMATURE 27 Apr 2024 Hejor1

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User's notes

Small case, made mostly of grass

8 comments

donhe wrote:
   27 Apr 2024
Looks more like a spider inside the case to me ?
Hejor1 wrote:
   7 May 2024
@donhe @ibaird I thought this was a spider too, but when I poked its head out I'm pretty sure it's a moth or beetle. In the first photo it's facing "west", with black face and we're looking at a dorsal view. The body is cream, with a black blob on top of each segment. I think 3 legs are visible, with the third leg pointing north-west. The legs are cream as well and it has shiny black/reddish socks.
EmmaCollins wrote:
   16 Jan 2025
It's definitely possible it's a spider, but I've not seen one inhabit a case like this before. There's not enough detail in the photo to definitively ID it as a spider in my opinion, so I'm not sure what the best approach is for this sighting. We could mark it as inconclusive, but if you can get more photos @Hejor1 we might be able to try again?
@YumiCallaway @NateKingsford what do you think?
NateKingsford wrote:
   16 Jan 2025
100% a moth, something like a bag worm moth, spiders don't make "houses" like this
Hejor1 wrote:
   16 Jan 2025
@EmmaCollins and @NateKingsford I think carbon AI got confused by the first photo and changed it from Phsychidae to Araneidae. Definitely a moth. The pic shows the legs prominently, with the black head pointing to the left of the photo and obscured by the case. The body is pale with a dark patch on the back of each segment. I count maybe 3 legs, pointing toward the top/left corner of the photo.
YumiCallaway wrote:
   16 Jan 2025
I agree this is not a spider unless somehow a spider has crawled in and is sharing the home, or the skin was included in the structure to look like spider legs, @ibaird do you know what moth it would be, or whether it is one?
donhe wrote:
   16 Jan 2025
Of the 350 named Australian species of Psychidae, only 22 have been reared to allow those species to be identified from the case structure and head and thorax patterns, see
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/psyc/psyc-cases.html
and this does not look to me like one of those.
@Hejor1 : Heather : any chance you can rear it to get an adult for an ID in due course ?
EmmaCollins wrote:
   17 Jan 2025
Sounds like we'll leave it open for now, in case we can get something more (either more photos or rearing it, if you happen to be able to find it again @Hejor1). If not, I think inconclusive is best as I'm not sure we'll be able to ID it successfully.

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Sighting information

Additional information

  • Larvae Breeding behaviour
  • 5mm to 12mm Animal size
  • False Insect on a flower

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