Golden Orb and the Fly

Golden Orb Weaver PreyBee Butterfly Dragonfly Fly Gecko Lizard Tail Shield Bug

Australian Golden Orb WeaverFemale Male Dimorphic Males Juvenile to Mature Female Moult Prey Web of Sex Egg Sac Web

One of the common small prey that are caught in the Australian Golden Orb Weaver web is the fly. Hunger may dictate whether they just paralysed and wrap the fly or start consuming it straight away.

Following is a Australian Golden Orb Weaver Spider with prey fly that is subdued with a bit of venom, and then wrapped in silk, often to be moved up into the pantry line of the food. The fly is most likely a Lucilia cuprina, also known as Green Blow Fly, Greenbottle Blowfly and Australian Sheep Blowfly.

These were other flies of the same species within a metre of the fly that got caught in the web (pictured above).

When the female spider is preoccupied with a captured prey, the male spider may often show interest in the captured prey. Sometimes it may take the opportunity to mate with the female whilst she is preoccupied. Usually the male will stay just outside of the reach of the female.

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Golden Orb Weaver PreyBee Butterfly Dragonfly Fly Gecko Lizard Tail Shield Bug

Australian Golden Orb WeaverFemale Male Dimorphic Males Juvenile to Mature Female Moult Prey Golden Orb and the Bee Golden Orb and the Butterfly Golden Orb and the Dragonfly Golden Orb and the Fly Golden Orb and the Gecko Golden Orb and the Lizard Tail Golden Orb and the Shield Bug Web of Sex Whilst She is Distracted Whilst She is Distracted Again Egg Sac Web

SpidersIndex of Spider Images Spiders in Australia Araneidae — Orb Weavers Arkys Australian Huntsman Spider Barking Spider Black House Spider Carepalxis sp Celaenia sp Crab Spiders Deinopidae — Net-casting Spiders Dolomedes sp Dolophones sp Flower Spiders Hackled Orbweavers (Uloboridae) Jewel Spider Jumping Spider Long Jawed Spider (Tetragnatha sp) Lynx Spider (Oxyopes) Mangrovia albida Maratus volans Missulena occatoria (Red-headed Mouse Spider) Miturgidae Nicodamidae (Red and Black Spider) Ogre-faced Net-casting Spider Poltys sp (Twig Spider) Redback Spider Scorpion-tailed Spider (Arachnura higginsi) Thomisidae Tiger Spider (Trichonephila plumipes) White-spotted Swift Spider (Nyssus albopunctatus) Wolf Spider