Spiders

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Photos from various angles are sometimes necessary for specific ID.

front (eye arrangement, pedipalp colour)
dorsal (above - general colouration, carapace and abdomen patterns)
ventral (underneath - especially useful for some of the ground-dwelling families and orb-weaving families)
side (further details for general shape, abdomen patterns and eye configuration)
back (further details for abdomen pattern).

Comments or photos on the following also provides valuable information if/when such features are applicable and observed...

surroundings and location (eg. ground, leaf litter, hand rail, tree trunk)
web structure and silk use (eg. orb, messy & tangled, throwing silk)
breeding (eg. display, egg sac)
behaviour (eg. hunting, interaction, familiarity with people such as the threatening display of a huntsman or the friendly and curious jumping spiders that jump onto the camera lens)
notable, unique, exciting or strange observations (eg. spur-like protrusions from legs, camouflage, mimicry)

Please note that the size of the spider is measured by body length.

body size is from the top of the cephalothorax (head) to the tip of the abdomen without including the legs.

(Updated: October, 2022. Please feel free to message a spider moderator if you have any queries or suggestions for improvement)

Resources:

Field guide: A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia authored by Robert Whyte & Greg Anderson

A good introduction: http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/allies/araneae.html

All about Australian spiders: http://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=2409

Spiders

Huntsman spiders (Sparassidae)

Jumping or peacock spiders (Salticidae)

Wolf spiders (Lycosidae)

Other hunting spiders

Orb-weaving spiders (several families)

Trapdoor, Funnelweb or Mouse spiders (Mygalomorphae)

Other web-building spiders

Water spiders (Pisauridae)

Moderators

NateKingsford

YumiCallaway

EmmaCollins

EathanDouglas

become a moderator

Discussion

EathanDouglas wrote:

Yesterday

I confirmed the H. jugulans ID over on INat, this is certainly one of the most southern sightings on both platforms. The Central NSW coast is home to only two species, H. longipes with a distinctly darker pattern and H. jugulans which is known for showing up in places it shouldn't, the species is now known form parts of Victoria, well away from their NE NSW - FNQ range. :)

Heteropoda jugulans

Harrisi wrote:

10 Oct 2025

Hi Michael. Initially I thought not, but on exploring images online it may well be. In S. mutans (males) the longer legs 3 are far more ornamental, with a terminal white tarsae and 'tassels' descending from the medial femoral aspect. If I have to give a D then I would say no but I did not that Jurgen Otto actually described this sp. in 2012 so a squizz at the paper might help.

Euophryinae sp. (Rockhopper) undescribed

MichaelMulvaney wrote:

9 Oct 2025

@Harrisi what do think - Saltis mutans is not a bad match but looks like our un-described rockhopper species

Euophryinae sp. (Rockhopper) undescribed

Harrisi wrote:

8 Oct 2025

A moderator on I-Nat has identified this sighting as Heteropoda jugulans. If so, according to ALA it is the southern most sighting of this species (out of over 2000 sightings)....

Heteropoda jugulans

NateKingsford wrote:

6 Oct 2025

Hey @JenetC, there doesn't seem to be an image attached to this sighting, could you double check this? :)

Missulena occatoria