The distinctive Trichonephila plumipes, with the yellow bands on the legs, that gives it the common name of Tiger Spider, is part of a group of spiders commonly called Golden Orb-Weaving Spiders.
Formerly classified as Nephila plumipes, this species is found in Australia (mainly along the east coast and Top End. They are also found in Indonesia, and Pacific Islands that include New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Ireland and New Caledonia.
The Trichonephila plumipes pictured here was in the Stony Range Regional Botanic Garden, located in the Northern Beaches region of New South Wales.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Chelicerata
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Suborder: Araneomorphae
- Infraorder: Entelegynae
- Superfamily: Araneoidea
- Family: Araneidae
- Subfamily: Nephilinae
- Genus: Trichonephila
- Species: Trichonephila plumipes
Footnote & References
- Many thanks to Tissa Ratnayeke for ID, member of Entomology Australia “Invertebratology”, Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/507004496955277/
- Tiger Spider (Trichonephila plumipes), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/904341-Trichonephila-plumipes
- Golden Orb-Weaving Spiders, Trichonephila and Nephila (family Araneidae), https://collections.qm.qld.gov.au/topics/283/golden-orb-weaving-spiders
- Trichonephila plumipes, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichonephila_plumipes, 25 January 2023
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