Melanistic Austracantha minax

Jewel SpiderMelanistic Austracantha minax

Today was an exciting opportunity for me. One of the fellow residents in our small settlement introduced me to a cluster of Christmas Spiders (Austracantha minax) that are orange coloured.

Absolutely fascinating.

This spider cluster included both the ‘normal’ coloured (featured here) and the melanistic form.

Thank you to Paul Irvine for his feedback, always appreciated and in this instance Paul write: “AWESOME. That’s only the 3rd one I have ever seen pics of. Speaking to an arachnologist at WA Museum, there’s a theory that these are a form of albinism in that colour morph. But needs to be studied to be confirmed. Excellent find and documentation Len.”

Near our place near Denmark on the south coast of Western Australia.

Source: Len van der Waag

Austracantha minax are easily identified, their abdomen having six distinctive projections that makes them easy to recognised, and are predominantly shiny black, with variable colours of yellow, orange and white patterns. There is also the melanistic forms, that often occur during autumn.

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• Scientific classification
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Subphylum: Chelicerata
• Class: Arachnida
• Order: Araneae
• Infraorder: Araneomorphae
• Family: Araneidae
• Genus: Austracantha
• Species: Austracantha minax
• Subspecies:
  • Austracantha minax astrigera (L. Koch, 1871)
  • Austracantha minax leonhardii (Strand, 1913)
  • Austracantha minax lugubris (L. Koch, 1871)

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Jewel SpiderMelanistic Austracantha minax

SpidersIndex of Spider Images Spiders in Australia Spiders Index Araneidae — Orb Weavers Spider sac Arkys Australian Huntsman Spider Barking Spider Black House Spider Carepalxis sp Celaenia sp Cosmophasis micarioides Crab Spiders Deinopidae — Net-casting Spiders Dolomedes sp Dolophones sp Euryopis Flower Spiders Gnaphosidae (Stealthy Ground Spider) Hackled Orbweavers (Uloboridae) Helpis minitabunda (Bronze Hopper) Herennia sp Jewel Spider Jumping Spider Long Jawed Spider (Tetragnatha sp) Lynx Spider (Oxyopes) Mangrovia albida Maratus Missulena occatoria (Red-headed Mouse Spider) Molycria burwelli Mopsus mormon Nicodamidae (Red and Black Spider) Nyssus coloripes (Orange-legged Swift Spider) Ogre-faced Net-casting Spider Poltys sp (Twig Spider) Scorpion-tailed Spider (Arachnura higginsi) Redback Spider Miturgidae Salticidae Tetragnatha Thomisidae Tiger Spider (Trichonephila plumipes) White-spotted Swift Spider (Nyssus albopunctatus) Wolf Spider