Belair National Park FaunaBirds Insects Spiders

Common Bird-dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata), Belair National Park SA © Marianne Broug
Common Bird-dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata), Belair National Park SA © Marianne Broug

“I was completely taken in … I truly thought it was a blob of fresh greenish / blackish / whitish bird poop! And even when I got closer “bird poop” was still going through my head. The only thing that gave me pause was that it was in a slightly strange position. Brilliant camouflage. Brilliant critter. Size of the tip of my finger … Common Bird-dropping spider, Celaenia excavata.

Common Bird-dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata), Belair National Park SA © Marianne Broug
Common Bird-dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata), Belair National Park SA © Marianne Broug
Common Bird-dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata), Belair National Park SA © Marianne Broug
Common Bird-dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata), Belair National Park SA © Marianne Broug

  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Chelicerata
  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infraorder: Araneomorphae
  • Family: Araneidae
  • Genus: Celaenia
  • Species: Celaenia excavata

Footnote & References

  1. Photographs Common Bird-dropping Spider (Celaenia excavata) © Marianne Broug
  2. Celaenia excavata (L. Koch, 1867), Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/e9f5efc2-9a69-4434-9473-9167f3786e4b
  3. Bird-dropping Spider, Australian Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/bird-dropping-spider/

Belair National Park FaunaBirds Insects Spiders

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