WozzTopia

This photograph was taken at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, where I have been known to spend hours walking aimlessly around snapping photos of unsuspecting creepy crawlies.  (January 2009)

The orb-weaver spiders are builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, forests etc. Their common name is taken from the round shape of the typical web. Orb-weavers have eight similar eyes, legs hairy or spiny. The family includes many well-known large or brightly coloured garden spiders. There are more than 2800 species in over 160 genera worldwide, making this one of the largest family of spiders known.

Sitting Pretty

The Garden Orb Weavers build large, strong, vertical orb webs. Generally, the spider constructs its web in the evenings and takes it down again at dawn. The spider rests head-down in the centre of the web, waiting for prey. During the day, the spider rests on nearby foliage with its legs drawn under the body. Birds such as honeyeaters are common predators of these spiders. Flying insects such as flies, beetles and bugs (including large prey like cicadas), are common prey. Butterflies and day-active moths are sometimes caught but are partially protected from web entrapment by the presence of scales on their wings – these scales can be shed and this may allow the insect to struggle free of the sticky web.