Achaearanea mundula
The comb-footed platform spider, Achaearanea mundula, is common in bushland and gardens in eastern Australia. The spider is 5-8 mm long and has a striking patchwork colour pattern, but is best recognised by its moderately large, distinctive web with a leaf detritus retreat. It is not as specialised a retreat builder as the leaf curling orb weavers - a curled leaf may be used or some leaf detritus may be loosely silked together. The retreat is placed in the centre of a network of threads spun above a horizontal, close-meshed silk sheet. The egg sacs are placed inside the retreat. These webs are usually built among understorey shrubs and low trees and are often seen in overgrown gardens. When insects fly into the 'knockdown' network of threads they fall through onto the silk sheet where they are seized by the spider.
These complex webs harbour a range of other animals, from small moth larvae that scavenge along the silk lines to spiders that find prey in the outer parts of the web. Some of these are small prey stealers of the genus Argyrodes. However, they include one species that is a specialist predator on A. mundula. Argyrodes incursus is a small, jet black spider with a single red spot on its abdomen. Somehow, the smaller spider kills the larger A. mundula and eats it, finally making its own egg sac within the dead host's retreat.
Copyright © Australian Museum, 2003
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