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Sticker of Bark-hugging Saint Andrew's cross spider
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Bark-hugging Saint Andrew's cross spider

Argiope ocyaloides
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsSpidersForests and woods8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The bark-hugging Saint Andrew's cross spider is a small, dark brown to black spider from Queensland. It hides in cracks of dark tree bark. Its back end is long with a pointy tip.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!
Lives in
Queensland in Australia, on the bark of eucalyptus and acacia trees
Top speed
about 1.2 km/h (0.75 mph)
On foot, estimate
What does it eat?
It catches flying insects in its web.
For real!Photo of Bark-hugging Saint Andrew's cross spider
Picture by G. Winterflood. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It hides in cracks of dark bark on eucalyptus and acacia trees, where its dark colour helps it blend in.

2

It is smaller than most of its cousins, the other Saint Andrew's cross spiders.

3

Its long back end ends in a sharp point, which helps tell it apart from a similar spider.

you asked

Most asked questions about Bark-hugging Saint Andrew's cross spider

?Where does the bark-hugging Saint Andrew's cross spider live?

In Queensland, Australia, on the dark bark of eucalyptus and acacia trees.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Argiope ocyaloides
Group
Spiders
Family
Araneidae
Classification
Arachnida > Araneae > Araneidae
Lives on
Australia and Oceania
Also known as
Bark-hugging St Andrews cross spider

Where the facts come from

  1. Argiope ocyaloides (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by G. Winterflood. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: Spiders

Also at home here: Forests and woods

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