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Comments & ID Thoughts
Possibly a Jewel Spider?
My wife says that this spider is common here but doesn't know its name. It is round, barely the size of a penny and it hides its legs underneath. It scrambles very quickly and makes a normal web. This is a photo of its complex underside. The topside is brown and spiny and unattractive, looking like common debris, so maybe that is its calling card?
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Oct 2, 2020
- Photographed: Oct 2, 2020
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Andalucia, Colombia
- Spotted Outdoors: High foliage (includes trees and tree trunks)
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes:
My wife, a Colombiana, also says it is like a turtle, with a hard shell.
Austracantha is a genus of spider with a single species, Austracantha minax, commonly known as the jewel spider or the Christmas spider. It is a member of the family Araneidae (the orb-weavers) and is endemic to Australia. They are relatively small spiders, reaching a maximum total body length of only around 12 mm (0.47 in) for females, and 5 mm (0.20 in) for males. Their abdomen has six distinctive projections (“spines”) that makes them easy to identify. They are predominantly a shiny black, with variable white, yellow, and orange patterns.