The solar hot water cylinder is located outside, and a glance while walking past made the welcome discovery of a male netcasting spider, Asianopis subrufa, in residence.
These are fascinating spiders, their enormous eyes are up to two thousand times more sensitive than those of a jumping spider, and to avoid damage from the strong light during daylight hours, the retinas dissolve to be regrown the next night. This is only the second record made, in March 2016 one set up camp at the base of the moth sheet support where it snared a Crypsiphona ocultaria. At the end of the session it was carefully re-located to a nearby shrub. The species is described as being timid and gentle, and completely harmless to humans. The leg spread of the male above is more than ten centimetres.
