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St. Andrew's Cross Spider (female)

Argiope keyserlingi

Photo by Liana
Published on Project Noah
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-16.82, 124.92

Field Notes

Description:

This is a female! She has "...a silvery carapace and a silver, yellow, red and black banded upper abdomen with two longitudinal yellow stripes below. (Australian Museum)

Habitat:

This web was across the grass and maybe a little over the water on the bank of the river at Mt Hart.

Notes:

Thank you for identifying this beautiful Spider Neil! I have never been able to get a shot of the top of these...and the bottom is never easy through the web :D

These Spiders are "...named for the bluish-white cross-shaped pattern of silk through the centre of the web resembling the St Andrew's cross on the Scottish flag." (Oz Animals: http://www.ozanimals.com/Spider/St.-Andrews-Cross-Spider/Argiope/keyser… )

Reference Links:

Argiope keyserlingi, St Andrew's Cross Spider, Argiope keyserlingi - Australian Museum

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (7)
Liana
Thank you Neil :)
Neil Ross
It's a great spotting, out in the middle of nowhere, it appears. Wonderful spiders.
Liana
Definitely looks familiar! Thank you for identifying this lovely Spider Neil! And yes, of course...if the invasive Cane Toads (Rhinella marina) can be transported around then it does stand to reason that a smaller critter can as well :) My brain got caught up in the research ha ha
Neil Ross
Hi Liana. Look familiar? http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/22450084 I'd say this is exactly what you have. Not too difficult for them to be transported around the country. In fact, this link says they're found across Australia, including Tassie. http://www.ozanimals.com/Spider/St.-Andrews-Cross-Spider/Argiope/keyserlingi.html
Daniel T.
It looks a lot like a garden spider. They're common to East TX.
Liana
Oh...I hear you! Just doing the cropping gave me the heebie jeebies :DD
Stephanie R.
Amazing.....but gives me the creeps just looking at it!

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Biodiversity of The Kimberley
Mission
Mission WILD
Mission
2016 Best Wildlife Photo
Photographed
PublishedMay 12, 2016

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