''Eriophora pustulosa'', commonly called the garden orb weaver spider, is a common small species of

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The colour of the species varies widely, but they are often brightly coloured. ''Eriophora pustulosa'' has five distinctive spines on its abdomen, two large ones halfway down its back and three smaller ones at the end of its abdomen. At night, the spider constructs a circular web that it waits in the middle of for prey to fly into.

Images

image:Spider Orb weaver Eriophora.jpg, South-eastern Australia File:NZ Eriophora pustulosa.jpg, New Zealand

References

Araneidae Spiders of Australia Spiders of New Zealand Spiders described in 1842 {{Araneidae-stub