Is this a native spider...?

kennethsross said:
Could be worse. Could be one of these!!

easpider122.jpg


easpider122a.jpg
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That can't be real! Unless it's a very small bird! :confused:
 
Floyd said:
Its real apparently :O

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/22/easpider122.xml
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Hmm, Golden Orb Weaver according to the article. I'm guessing that it is an exceptionally large example of the species.

"Normally they prey on large insects, it's unusual to see one eating a bird," he said.

Mr Shakepeare told ninemsn he had seen golden orb weaver spiders as big as a human hand but the northern species in tropical areas were known to grow larger.

Mr Shakespeare said the bird, a Chestnut-breasted Mannikin which appears frozen in an angel-like pose in the pictures, is likely to have flown into the web and got caught.

"It wouldn`t eat the whole bird," he told ninemsn.

"It uses its venom to break down the bird for eating and what it leaves is a food parcel," he said.

Queensland Museum's Greg Czechura is reported ninemsn as saying cases of the Golden Orb Weaver eating small birds were "well known but rare".

"It builds a very strong web," he told ninemsn.

But he said the spider would not have attacked until the bird weakened due to its struggle to free its wings.

"The more they struggle, the more tangled up and exhausted they get and they go into stress."

"If a spider gets a bird, it`s a very lucky spider," Mr Czechura said.

Source: http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2008/10/23/11601_local-news.html
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G18241 said:
Was in the paper on the bus the other day, look bloody evil but apparantly their venom is no more painful than a wasp sting...wouldnt give it a chance though TBH :p
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LOL! I wouldn't get that close regardless! It could jump on your face! *Shudder!*
 
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