Subject: Unknown Spider
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
January 18, 2015 3:47 pm
Hi there!
Recently found this little interesting spider in our bathroom down in New Zealand, just thought we’d post it up here for a bit of insight as none of us have a clue
Cheers’
Liam
Signature: Cheers’ Liam O’Connor
Dear Liam,
We believe this is an Orbweaver in the family Araneidae, and it has a very distinct, pointed abdomen. The pointy abdomen should make it easy to identify, but we could not find any matching images in our initial search. There is a genus in Australia on the Brisbane Insect site with a species known as the Scorpion Tailed Spider, but it has much shorter legs than your individual.
Update: March 7, 2016
Thanks to a comment from Geevee, we now believe this may be a Teardrop Spider, Argiope protensa.
since the spider lack the characteristic shape of abdomen found in the scorpion tailed spider, I would suggest the possibility of a freshly molted orbweaver specimen (such as golden orb weaver)
in these case, the spider can have a different coloration, and if incident occurred, dimorphism can also be present until the next molt
Deckez
Thanks for presenting another possibility, and we agree that it is an Orbweaver.
since the spider lack the characteristic shape of abdomen found in the scorpion tailed spider, I would suggest the possibility of a freshly molted orbweaver specimen (such as golden orb weaver)
in these case, the spider can have a different coloration, and if incident occurred, dimorphism can also be present until the next molt
Deckez
That ID doesn’t look quite right to me. I strongly suspect it’s something in Argiope sp.
http://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/australian/araneidae/araneidae.html
Just look at A. protensa
http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=641893
Thanks so much for the links. Teardrop Spider, Argiope protensa, does look like a very good visual match.
That ID doesn’t look quite right to me. I strongly suspect it’s something in Argiope sp.
http://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/australian/araneidae/araneidae.html
Just look at A. protensa
http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=641893
Called a Tailed Forest Spider as well
http://naturewatch.org.nz/taxa/202207-Argiope-protensa
Thanks for the information and the link.
Called a Tailed Forest Spider as well
http://naturewatch.org.nz/taxa/202207-Argiope-protensa
common name “Tailed grass spider”… There is another called “tailed forest spider” which is different to this (Arachnura feredayi)