Alice Springs Fauna •

Alice Springs Spiders > Alice Springs Spider Index

Native to Australia, Nyssus coloripes has a number of common names including the Orange-legged Swift Spider, the Spotted Ground Swift Spider, the Fleet Footed Spider and the Painted Swift Spider.

Mainly black in appearance, and usually with white spots along most of the body and orange front legs. There is a variable form, where the spots on the abdomen are yellow-orange (sometimes described as “old gold” rather than red). They are about 6–7 mm in length.

They are a diurnal (daytime) spider and can hunt for their prey, as well as using their webs to detect prey.

The spiders pictured here were observed in Alice Springs.

Nyssus coloripes (Orange-legged Swift Spider), Alice Springs NT
Nyssus coloripes (Orange-legged Swift Spider), Alice Springs NT
Nyssus coloripes (Orange-legged Swift Spider), Alice Springs NT
Nyssus coloripes (Orange-legged Swift Spider), Alice Springs NT
Nyssus coloripes (Orange-legged Swift Spider), Alice Springs NT
Nyssus coloripes (Orange-legged Swift Spider), Alice Springs NT

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  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Chelicerata
  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infraorder: Araneomorphae
  • Family: Corinnidae
  • Subfamily: Castianeirinae
  • Genus: Nyssus
  • Species: Nyssus coloripes

Footnote & References

  1. Many thanks to Kim Lesley Angus for ID and information on colour form, member of Entomology Australia “Invertebratology” Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/groups/507004496955277/
  2. Nyssus coloripes Walckenaer, 1805, Spotted Ground Swift Spider, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Nyssus coloripes

Alice Springs SpidersAustralian Golden Orb Weaver Australian Huntsman Spiders (Sparassidae) Backobourkines Banded Garden Spider Beautiful Badge Huntsman (Neosparassus calligaster) Cytaea sp Desert Huntsman Spider Elegant Water Spider (Dolomedes facetus) Euryopis sp Gnaphosid (Ground Spider) Hackled Orb-weavers (Uloboridae) Hogna crispipes Hortophora sp Long-jawed Orb Weavers (Tetragnatha) Long-tailed St. Andrew’s Cross Spider (Argiope protensa) Lynx Spider (Oxyopidae) Miturgidae (Elassoctenus spp) Neosparassus sp Oecobius sp Orange-legged Swift Spider (Nyssus coloripes) Orbweavers (Araneidae) Red-headed Mouse Spider Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti) Sondra aurea Uloboridae (Cribellate Orb Weavers) Wall Spider (Oecobius sp) Zodariidae

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