Article contibuter by Stephen Skinner
The Birdlime spider (Celaenia kinbergi) is an interesting member of the diverse family of Orb Weavers. She, and yes, she is the big spider, the male is tiny, builds a day-bed and the wonderful ‘lobster buoy’ incubation sacs and little more.
She is believed to lure her diet of moths using a pheromone-mimicking scent. The more she eats, the more of the incubation sacs she will construct, and the ground below her day-bed will be littered with moth carcasses. Given warm weather and so plenty of moths she may build one egg sac every five to seven days, taking a bit longer as the days shorten and the weather cools. She is a long lived lady and may have bunches of about a dozen sacs across the season. The spiderlings are tiny and may have hatched from the early sacs well before the last one is finished. This lady has seven sacs hanging in her chosen sapling. 22nd May 2011.