An orb in my garden

Apparently, the garden orb is a very common species of spider in Australia. Only, I'd never come across any. That is, until one night a few weeks back when I noticed this large intricate web above my hibiscus bush. I admired the handiwork, not paying much attention to the spider curled up in the centre.

A few nights later, the web owner caught my attention. I'd never seen a spider quite like it. It had long reddish legs and a rather large abdomen with two ocular looking spots, making the abdomen look like its head.

Then one night, I caught the orb in the act of weaving its web. At the time, I assumed that the strong winds the night before had destroyed the web, but I have since discovered that orb spiders take down their webs at dawn and rebuild each night.

My orb builds its web in exactly the same strategic location every night, in front of the sensor light. It takes just over an hour of slow weaving to complete the web. It then sits quietly in the centre, waiting patiently for unsuspecting insects, attracted to the light, to get entangled in its web. to Come morning, there is no sign of orb or web, but at dusk, it reappears, and weaves once again.

More on orb spiders may be found at:

• • Garden orb weaving spiders - Australian Museum

  • Australian garden orb weaver spider - Wikipedia