Leaf-curling Spider
Phonognatha graeffei
photographed by Joyce
These spiders cleverly weave a leaf or other object into the centre of their webs as a hide-away from birds and other predators. Leaves are curled to form a funnel that the spider can hide inside. They have also been seen to use old snail shells are discarded pieces of paper. This species is unusual among orb-weaving spiders because males cohabit in the leaf retreat with both immature and mature females, mating with the former shortly after the female molts. Cohabitation appears to be a form of mate-guarding.
https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/scholarlywork/1012232-sexual-cohabitation-as-mate-guarding-in-the-leaf-curling-spider-phonognatha-graeffei-keyserling-(araneoidea--araneae)
https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/scholarlywork/1012232-sexual-cohabitation-as-mate-guarding-in-the-leaf-curling-spider-phonognatha-graeffei-keyserling-(araneoidea--araneae)
Genus: Phonognatha South Pacific orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895 thought to be part of the long-jawed orb weavers genus but was moved to Araneidae in 2008.
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