''Asianopis subrufa'' (also called the rufous net-casting spider) is a species of net-casting
spider
Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
s. It occurs in Australia (
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
,
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Victoria and
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
) and in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
.
[ It is a nocturnal hunter, having excellent eyesight, and hunts using a silken net to capture its prey. They feed on a variety of insects – ants, beetles, crickets and other spiders. They can vary in colour from fawn to pinkish brown or chocolate brown. Females are about 25 mm in body length, males about 22 mm. They are not dangerous to humans.
This species is often found on a few strands of web in forest, woodland and heathland, or on flat surfaces, for example on the outside of houses.
]
Taxonomy
''Asianopis subrufa'' was first described by Ludwig Koch in 1878, in the genus '' Deinopis''.[ In 2020, the species was transferred to the newly erected genus ''Asianopis'' which contains the Asian and West Pacific species formerly included in the genus ''Deinopis''.]Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
for "reddish".
Mating
Males will usually shed their last skin and then seek a suitable female to mate with. They will rest on the outer skirts of the female's web, and will gently pluck the web to show her that they are interested. Days after mating, the female then constructs a globular egg sac, approximately 10–12 mm in diameter. It is generally a light brown or fawn colour with black specks on it and contains anywhere from 100 to 200 eggs. It is usually disguised and protected by a leaf. Once the female has constructed the egg sac and laid the eggs, she will usually leave it to its own fate. After around 3 weeks, the young hatch.
Gallery
Image:Deinopis_subrufa.jpg, Males are striped.
References
External links
Pictures of A''. subrufa''
Australian Biological Resources Study
Australian Museum web site, Net-casting Spiders
Deinopidae
Spiders of Australia
Spiders of New Zealand
Spiders described in 1878
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