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Sticker of Common triangular spider
Bug card No. 1155 of 4,939

Common triangular spider

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

The triangular spider is a small, colourful spider from Australia. Its body can be yellow, orange or red, with pale, jewel-like markings on a heart-shaped back. Instead of waiting in a big web, it sits on a leaf and waits to grab its dinner.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!
Lives in
Australia, on leaves and ferns
Length
5.5 to 8 mm (0.22 to 0.31 in)
females are bigger than males
Top speed
about 1.1 km/h (0.68 mph)
On foot, estimate
What does it eat?
It catches small insects with its big, strong front legs.
For real!Photo of Common triangular spider
Picture by Peter Woodard. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Common triangular spider about 8 mm long (0.31 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailcould run across a dinner table in 3.3 secondsmoves 38 times its own body length every second

How big is Common triangular spider compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its two front pairs of legs are big and strong for grabbing insects, while its back legs are much smaller.

2

It is an ambush hunter. It keeps very still and grabs small insects that come close.

3

Sometimes it just hangs from a few threads of silk.

4

The mother makes a pinkish cream egg sac about 8 millimetres wide, with around 70 tiny eggs inside.

5

Each egg is less than 1 millimetre across.

you asked

Most asked questions about Common triangular spider

?How big is the triangular spider?

The female's body is about 8 millimetres long and the male's about 5,5 millimetres.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Arkys lancearius
Group
Spiders
Family
Arkyidae
Classification
Arachnida > Araneae > Arkyidae
Lives on
Australia and Oceania
Also known as
Triangular spider

Where the facts come from

  1. Arkys lancearius (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 Peter Woodard. Public domain, 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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