Flying spiders

It's not their fault they don't have feathers! Doesn't make them any less interesting. And just like the birds, it's good to know what species are about locally at any given time.

There's expertise within the club and beyond on most aspects of our local fauna. Let's tap into it.
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Robert Ashdown
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Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 2:34 pm
Location: Toowoomba
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Flying spiders

Post by Robert Ashdown »

The air in our suburb (East Toowoomba) full of tiny spiders attached to bits of web floating past, grass of parks shimmering with webs. Many midges and insects in the air, swallows all busy over any grassy areas feasting on insects. 2 November 2011.
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smyliekylie
Posts: 50
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:06 pm

Yikes

Post by smyliekylie »

That sounds scary, just a few days late for halloween too!
Rod Hobson
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:03 am

Across "The Ditch"

Post by Rod Hobson »

Folks,

I was reading a booklet on New Zealad arachnids last night (Crowe 2009) that had an entry, which has some relation to Rob Ashdown's posting of 04 Nov above on his paragliding spider sprats. Under the entry for the Golden Orbweb Spider (Nephila edulis) on page 13 the author Andrew Crowe states,

"From Australia and the Tropics, it is sometimes seen in northern New Zealand, where it can cause alarm because of its large size." and, "Most years a few of the tiny, young spiders get picked up over in Australia by westerly winds and blown across the Tasman Sea". "

That's quite a jouney by a spiderling and I was mightily impressed especially seeing that I have Nephila edulis in our home garden. It's a lovely big spider. On reading through this booklet I found that it listed quite a few Aussie spidery invaders of Aotearoa's shores, either under their own steam, as in the Golden Orbweb Spider, or as Man-assisted immigrants. These include:

Two-spined Spider (Poecilopachys australasia); first recorded in N.Z. in the early 1970's.

Horizontal Orbweb Spider (Leucauge dromedaria); Australian; now common in N.Z.'s North Island.

Dewdrop Spider (Argyrodes antipodianus); Australia; very common in warmer parts of both main islands of N.Z.

Australian Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti); uncommon in N.Z. and only known from a few localities in both main islands.

Grey House Spider (Badumna longinqua): Australian but now common throughout New Zealand especially around human habitations. In Oz this spider is easily confused with its close relative the Black House Spider (B. insignis) with which it shares similar habitats. Badumna insignis will be very familiar to most home owners because of its messy webs.

Sombrero Spider (Stiphidion facetum); a recent Australian emigrant now well establised in N.Z.

Bronze Aussie Jumper (Helpis minitabunda); - great common name; native of eastern Australia; first recorded in N.Z. in 1972, in Auckland; has spread as far south as Palmerston North.

Polkadot Hopper Spider (Opisthoncus polyphemus); coastal New South Wales, Queensland and New Guinea. One record in N.Z. in September 2000 in Mangawhai, Northland.

Australian Ground Spider (Supunna picta); no data other than an Australian exotic to N.Z.

White-tailed Spider (Lampona cylindrica, L. murina); both species have been in New Zealand "since the 1880s".

Avondale Spider (Delena cancerides); one of our huntsman that is common around Toowoomba; arrived in the Avondale district of Auckland in the 1920's in a load of Aussie timber. Is still largely confined to that area hence its common name in N.Z.

Of course, as any Kiwi is very happy to do a whole host of Aussie invaders can be rattled off without too much ado when the subject arises. These include Tammar Wallaby, Red-necked Wallaby, Parma Wallaby, Brush-tailed Possum, Black Swan, Brown Quail, Eastern Rosella, Australian Magpie, the frog Litoria ewingi, Green Bellfrog and Southern Bellfrog and the skink Lampropholis delicata. Even the New Zealand Preying Mantis (Ortodera novaezealandiae) has a suspect Aussie ancestry. Some other Australian pests that have turned up in New Zealand but have not managed to eastablish themselves there include the Cane Toad, Dennis Lillee, Shane Warne, George Gregan and especially the Chappell brothers Greg and Trevor.

Reference: Crowe A. (2009). "A Mini Guide to the Identification of New Zealand Spiders", Penguin Group New Zealand.

Regards,
Rod Hobson
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