Sapphire Coast SpidersCommon Bird-dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata) Common Triangular Spider (Arkys lancearius) Walckenaer’s Studded Triangular Spider (Arkys walckenaeri)
Arkys walckenaeri is an Australian spider in the family Arkyidae, commonly known as Walckenaer’s Studded Triangular Spider. It is an ambush predator, with long curved forelegs and a triangular, long, narrow shaped abdomen. Like others in the genus, it uses a ‘sit and wait’ technique, similar to that of crab spiders.
Found throughout mainland Australia’s east coast and hinterland, although more common in the southern states, this spider is between 4 to 7 mm in length (the male being smaller then the female). There is regional colour and pattern variability, with Queensland specimens having white sigilla on an orange to red abdomen, whilst those from Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania are pale yellow with few to no visible markings. Even within a region, such as in New South Wales and ACT, there can be localised variability.
Arkys walckenaeri’s triangular abdomen shows regional variability in colour and pattern. Specimens from Queensland and Java have white sigilla on an orange to red abdomen. West Australian, South Australian and Tasmanian specimens, on the other hand, are pale yellow with few to no visible markings. Both sexes reach a length of approximately 7 mm.
The Walckenaer’s Studded Triangular Spider (Arkys walckenaeri) is named in honour of Charles Athanase Walckenaer, a French civil servant and scientist (25 December 1771 – 28 April 1852).
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Chelicerata
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Infraorder: Araneomorphae
- Family: Arkyidae
- Genus: Arkys
- Species: Arkys walckenaeri
Footnote & References
- Walckenaer’s Studded Triangular Spider (Arkys walckenaeri), Photographs © Deb Taylor
- Walckenaer’s Studded Triangular Spider (Arkys walckenaeri), debtaylor142, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations?place_id=6744&subview=map&taxon_id=489503&user_id=debtaylor142
- Arkys walckenaeri Simon, 1879, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/7f252ae7-8f66-4a58-976e-d2202920a949
- Triangular Spiders, Australian Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/triangular-spiders-arkys-spp/
Sapphire Coast SpidersCommon Bird-dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata) Common Triangular Spider (Arkys lancearius) Walckenaer’s Studded Triangular Spider (Arkys walckenaeri)
Sapphire Coast FaunaAnts Bees Birds Insects Spiders
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