Prowling Spiders, Miturga lineata, of the Mirtigidae Family, are nocturnal (move at night) and use camouflage to hide. There are 32 species known in Australia; this one has distinctive lines running down its body; hence the name lineata.

Prowling Spiders do not use webs, but use stealth and speed to catch their prey. The spider photographed here was tangled in the web of a Daddy-long-legs. The Daddy-long-legs cautious approached this much larger spider backwards, tentatively slapping it with a rear leg, then quickly running off as the Prowling Spider retaliated by slapping back with long forearms.

Prowling Spiders can be found at night, by holding a torch next to one's head, sighting down the beam, and looking for bright twinkling on the grass. The twinkling is the spider's eye's, reflecting the light. Using this technique at Manna Park found about one spider every 10m, and some were seen retreating into holes in the ground.

The spider shown here is a male, with a body of about 12mm long. It's total length with its legs outstretched was about 35mm. Females make a cocoon-like nest of webbing under tree bark, which can be seen as a white, flossy mass.

These photographs were taken with a digital microscope set at 1x zoom, with the spider trapped in a saucepan. I'll try to get a more natural shot! - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Click on either photo to download a slightly higher resolution image.