Tiny Bee Fly: Villa Sp

Location: Bunbury, Western Australia

Season: Summer, December 

Order: Diptera 

Suborder: Brachycera 

Infraorder: Asilomorpha 

Superfamily: Asiloidea 

Family: Bombyliidae 

Subfamily: Anthracinae 

Tribe: Villini 

Subfamily: Exoprosopinae 

Genus: Villa

This is a very tiny Bee Fly measuring about 1 to 2 cms in length. It is bright golden in colour. This was seen perching on dry vegetation and dry sand. The other Bee Fly was fighting for the perching spot. It belongs to the genus Villa. The wings are clear with no black shading or line on the coastal margin. The abdominal bandings are golden and black. Again, hard to pin point the species.
Other Bee Flies: See here

Villa Bee Fly

Location: Bunbury, Western Australia

Season: Summer, December 

Order: Diptera 

Suborder: Brachycera 

Infraorder: Asilomorpha 

Superfamily: Asiloidea 

Family: Bombyliidae 

Subfamily: Anthracinae 

Tribe: Villini 

Subfamily: Exoprosopinae 

Genus: Villa

Another species of Bee Fly I found from the Genus Villa can be seen here.

This Bee Fly is morphologically different from the one before. This Bee Fly is yellowish golden in colour. It has black, white and yellow bands of varying breadths. The wing is darkly shaded on the coastal margin of the ring becoming clearer towards posterior margin, however lacks the distinct dark like of the previous species spotted. It is considerably smaller in size than the previous one, measuring about 3 cms in length.

Villa is a big genus within which there are many species. Species identification relies on intricate detail of venation, abdominal rings and tomentum. The species of this particular Bee Fly cannot be determined just by the picture.

Spitting Spider: Scytodes thoracica

Location: Bunbury, Western Australia

Season: Summer, February

Class: Arachnida 

Order: Araneae 

Family: Scytodidae 

Genus: Scytodes

Scytodes thoracica

This Spitting Spider was found inside the house on the ceiling. The spider has a freckled pattern resembling leopard spots. It has 3 pairs of eyes instead of 4 as seen in other spiders. The abdomen and cephalothorax slope towards the opposite sides making it hard to tell the front and back of the spider. This may be to confuse its predators. The legs are very long and the spider moves slowly, if at all it moves during the day. It hunts during the night. Hunting technique is unique to these spiders. They spit venom on the prey, entangling it in a sticky crisscrossed web. 

Spiders from the same family, known as Recluse Spiders are venomous. The species Loxosceles cause Loxoscelism resulting in skin necrosis in humans, only known necrotic arachnidism. However genus Scytodes does not cause any human envenomation.

Reference: Wikipedia Wikipedia Arachne 

Australian Bronze Jumper: Helpis minitabunda

Location: Bunbury, Western Australia

Season: Summer, February

Class: Arachnida 

Order: Araneae 

Suborder: Araneomorphae 

Family: Salticidae

Helpis minitabunda

Aussie Bronze Jumping Spider is common in gardens of Australia. It is known to be found in the East Coast. This spider is a common resident of my West Coast garden. I have spotted it on numerous occasions over different seasons. It is found hiding in the foliage, usually on the underside of a leaf. It is brown-bronze in colour. The flat cephalothorax has 4 pairs of eyes are arranged in a circular fashion. The tapering abdomen has varying patterns. Legs have white rings around the metatarsal joints. It is an alert and active spider and an agile jumper. 

Striped Jumping Spider: Telamonia dimidiata

Location: Bangalore, India

Season: Early Winter, November

Class: Arachnida 

Order: Araneae 

Suborder: Araneomorphae 

Family: Salticidae

Telamonia dimidiata

This spider was the subject of an online hoax where it was rumoured to be deadly due to its poisonous bite. Striped Jumping Spider is non venomous and is not dangerous to humans. It is often found on green foliage, easily recognisable by the striped abdomen. The above pictured is a female which has a lighter coloured body with light brown rings around the black eyes.   

Garden Jumping Spider: Opisthoncus parcedentatus

Location: Bunbury, Western Australia 

Season: Summer 

Class: Arachnida 

Order: Araneae 

Suborder: Araneomorphae 

Family: Salticidae 

Genus: Opisthoncus

Opisthoncus parcedentatus

Genus Opisthoncus, of the family Salticidae has 25 described species in Australia and many non described ones. They are all Common Garden Jumping Spiders. O. parcedentatus is a common species found in Australia. It is usually seen on the leaves, trees and green foliage. The shape of the abdomen and cephalothorax are characteristic. The dark brown abdomen has white markings with one longitudinal stripe running along the midline of the dorsum. There are white marking on the cephalothorax too. There is a thin white moustache on the clypeus. There is an orange horizontal stripe on which the eyes seem to be arranged. It has 8 eyes for a 360 degree view. Its vision and movement are helped by very mobile joint between the cephalohorax and abdomen. It lifts its head and scans behind to look for food and danger. 

The above spider was found on undersurface of a leaf. It was 5mm in length. It was very agile and actively jumping. Jumping spiders don't weave webs and wander from place to place. They are active predators of other tiny insects. 

Reference: Brisbane Insects

Find-A-Spider

Cyclops Jumping Spider: Opisthoncus polyphemus

Location: Bunbury, Western Australia

Season: Summer

Class: Arachnida 

Order: Araneae 

Suborder: Araneomorphae

Family: Salticidae

Genus: Opisthoncus

Opisthoncus polyphemus

Opisthoncus polyphemus is a spider belonging to the family of jumping spiders, Salticidae. Attached to the pale abdomen, it has a cephalothorax with prominent brownish red round spots. These spots make the eyes look bigger than they are. Even though it has eight eyes, it is called a cyclops because each eye is made prominent by a circular spot. The name of the species is derived from Polyphemus of Greek mythology who was one of the Cyclopses described in Homer's epic poem, Odessy. 

This jumping spider is about 5 to 6 mm in length. It is found is dry vegetation with abundant eucalyptus trees. It is a diurnal spider which is highly mobile and feeds on insects and other small spiders.

Reference: Arachne.org.au

Note: Opisthoncus is a genera of Salticidae which means backwards lump (opistho = backwards, as in opisthotonus) probably referring to the abdomen behind the cephalothorax (citation needed)

Green Orb Weaver: Araneus psittacinus Complex

Location: Bunbury

Season: Summer, February

Class: Arachnida 

Order: Araneae 

Suborder: Araneomorphae 

Family: Araneidae

Araneus psittacinus complex

This tiny green spider was found in a crevice of a car window in a parking lot. It can be presumed that this spider was actually a transfer from a region of green foliage where this spider was taking shelter. It has a tiny body measuring about 3 mm. The green abdomen has two pairs of proximally placed punctate marks. The small cephalothorax and the shape of the abdomen is characteristic of the family Araneidae, the family of Orb Weaving Spiders. This particular spider resembles Eriophora circulissparsus, previously placed in the genus Araneus. Given the geographic location of this particular spider, it could very well be Araneus eburneiventris. But because of the vast variation within the genera (and even species) and constant revision of taxonomy, it can safely be placed in A. psittacinus complex.

This spider is nocturnal. It weaves a web each night and destroys it in the morning, taking refuge by disguising itself in the nearby green foliage during the day.

Reference: Flickr 
Find-a-spider 

Wheel weaving spiders

Dew Drop Spider: Argyrodes antipodianus

Macro image of Dew Drop Spider
3 mm in length
Conical Silvery abdomen
Black line along the dorsum
Banded black legs
Not possible to tell the sex from the picture.

Location: Big Swamp Wildlife Park, Bunbury

Season: Late Winter, Early Spring

Class: Arachnida 

Order: Araneomorphae 

Family: Theridiidae 

Genus: Argyrodes 

A. antipodianus

This little spider is easily identified by the silver coloured conically shaped abdomen. There is a black stripe running along the dorsum. These morphological characteristics give this spider the appearance of a shiny dew drop, hence the name. The dew drop shape helps it procure food. It disguises itself as a dew drop and occupies the web of other spiders and steals their prey. It is a kleptoparasite. It only weaves a weak web for itself. It usually occupies the web of Orb Weavers and feed on the prey caught by the Orb Weavers. It also sometimes eats the host spider when it is incapacitated during moulting.

Dew Drop Spiders are found all over the world and Australia.

Reference: Atlas Of Living Australia