Dolophones spDolophones conifera Dolophones turrigera
These magnificent looking spiders are known as the Turreted Wrap-around Spider (Dolophones turrigera), belonging to the family Araneidae. First described in 1867 by Ludwig von Koch, they are sometimes called Twig Spiders or Turret Spiders and are indigenous to Australia.
During the day they hide, camouflage amongst plants, wrapped around twigs and on branches. At night they spin their web. The adult female is about 8 mm, whilst the males are about 4-5 mm in size.
— click image to view full screen
Similar to other Dolophones species, such as Dolophones conifera, the Dolophones turrigera species has a turret shape on the upper surface of the abdomen. The upper abdominal surface also features round plates, each with a slit or line in the middle.4
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Chelicerata
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Infraorder: Araneomorphae
- Family: Araneidae
- Genus: Dolophones
- Species: Dolophones turrigera
Footnote & References
- Photographs Dolophones turrigera © Michael Doe
- Michael Doe on Flickr – spiderphotography21
- Dolophones turrigera (L. Koch, 1867), Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/b56ea5dc-8ffa-4d4e-abcf-58c8abea4f13
- Dolophones turrigera (L. Koch, 1867) Turreted Wrap-around Spider, Arachne.org.au, http://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=2305 (this site is no longer active. Some content can be viewed on Wayback Machine)
Dolophones spDolophones conifera Dolophones turrigera
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