Continuing with spiders, Austracantha minax, or Australian Jewel Spiders to give them their appropriate common name, have their orb webs strung close to the abundant flies on the Baeckea. They invariably manage to present their under sides to the camera so this one was gently persuaded to move to a better position.
Leaf curlers, Phonognatha graeffei are getting more numerous. This individual had more much ambitious plans for its shelter than its neighbours, arachnid one-upmanship!
Blue-banded Bees, Amegilla cingulata are more numerous this season, good news for the tomatoes which they pollinate.One has to be quick on the trigger as they only land for an instant before moving to the next flower. The Pale Vanilla Lilies are a popular target.
The smaller native bees seem to have largely done their work, but a Masked Bee, Hylaeus nubilosus has been at the bee house finishing off a nest site. The bamboo tube was first sealed with a cellophane-like material, which was then covered with a frass-like substance gathered from adjacent tubes.
Further out in the garden a sheet of bark fell from a decorticating White Brittle Gum, E. mannifera, to reveal a beautifully constructed spider egg case.
And on an adjacent tree another wasp pair.
Click to enlarge.
