Celaenia excavata
Common name: Bird-dropping Spider
Unknown.
This spider has been found throughout Australia.
The females of the Bird-dropping Spider can grow to have a body length of approximately 15 millimetres, but the males only reach about 3 millimetres.
Looking like a bird dropping is a camouflage defence strategy against predators – after all, who would want to eat a bird dropping?
At night, female Bird-dropping Spiders emit a pheromone which smells just like the scent emitted by a female moth trying to attract a mate. The male moths of Spodoptera mauritia, Lawn Armyworm, are attracted to the spider and eaten for their efforts.
The females have up to 13 egg sacs, with about 200 eggs each, strung together with strong threads.
We have photographed this species in October and November.
Atlas of Living Australia https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/fde86187-3fac-4948-8d64-321142fbea1c
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celaenia_excavata
Spiders of Australia http://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/australian/araneidae/araneidae.html
Arachne.org.au http://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=2161
Australian Museum http://australianmuseum.net.au/Bird-dropping-spider
If you can help us fill in any other details please contact us.