FACT FILE - 012
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Family
Araneidae |
Species
Araneus bradleyi
Keyserling, 1887
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Body Length
female: 17mm
male: 6mm |
Habitat
An orb built between bushes and grasses close to the ground. |
Toxicity
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Click images to enlarge.
Normal colour pattern.
Below are three colour variations found in a localised area near Hobart.
Photo: ©Val Shelton-Bunn
Photo: ©Val Shelton-Bunn
Photo: ©Val Shelton-Bunn
Orb web.
Juvenile.
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| Araneus bradleyi is somewhat unusual, even among the orb weavers, in that individual specimens can vary drastically in both the colour and the pattern of the top of their abdomens. Some are almost entirely green, some have a green strip along each edge but yellow, orange and white in the centre, and others have no green at all but instead have the 'typical' pattern of warm colours. No one seems to know why this happens. Ron Atkinson. |
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