Spider imitates Pardalote


I consider this to be one of my better photographs, because I have got enough of it n focus to actually show the little appendages organising the web.  When I say 'little' this beast was about 5mm across the carapace!

A friend with much  more knowledge of Arthropods (than myself) has advised that "Its a spiny spider possibly in the genus Gasteracantha, family Araneidae.  They often occur in large colonies with the webs strung among shrubbery."

The reference to pardalote is to the Spotted Pardalote one of the small jewels of the Australian avifauna!

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