Leaf-curling spider fact sheet

What are leaf-curling spiders?

Leaf-curling spiders are small  arachnids  with long, reddish legs. They have a pale green and black pattern on their large abdomens.

Leaf-curling spiders are classified as orb weaving spiders because they weave circular webs. Orb means spherical. They get their name because they build a leaf shelter in their webs. The leaf is coiled into a silk-lined, hollow tube.

The scientific name of the leaf-curling spider is Phonognatha graeffei.

Leaf-curling spiders have pale green and black patterns on their abdomen.

Leaf-curling spiders hide in curled up leaves attached to circular webs which are open at the top.

Do male and female spiders look different?

Both male and female spiders are the same colour with the only difference being in size. Females are approximately 8 millimetres while males are about 5 millimetres in length.

Leaf-curling spiders have long legs and very large, oval shaped abdomens.

Where do leaf-curling spiders live?

Leaf curling spiders are mostly found in the eastern states of Australia. They are well adapted to suburban gardens, city parks and forest habitats where there are many flying insects, plenty of leaf litter and ample vegetation from which to hang a web.

Leaf-curling spiders use leaf litter to create shelters to hide in.

What do leaf-curling spiders eat?

Leaf curling spiders feed on the juices of small insects like bees, butterflies, moths, flying beetles and mosquitos. Ants are on the menu too if they are unlucky enough to stumble into the web.

Leaf-curling spiders roll their prey in silk before eating it.

What eats leaf-curling spiders?

Birds and parasitic wasps are the main predators of leaf-curling spiders. Parasitic wasps will paralyse the spider and drag it back to their nest to be eaten by baby wasps.

Female spiders will often eat male spiders after mating.

The curled leaf protects the spider from birds and parasitic wasps.

How do leaf-curling spiders reproduce and what is their life cycle?

Male leaf-curling spiders live at the opposite end of the leaf until the female is ready to mate.

Egg sacs are laid in a different leaf which is carefully folded in half horizontally and sealed with silk and hung close by.

When hatched, the spiderlings break their way out of the folded leaf then build tiny orb webs amongst the vegetation.  Leaf-curling spiders live for approximately one year.

How does the leaf curling spider make her egg sac?

In the night, the female leaf curling spider dangles from a thread of silk and collects a leaf from the ground. The leaves are softer at night. She climbs back up the thread with the leaf and gently bends the leaf in half using silk woven from side to side.

When the leaf is partly bent, she weaves a bed of silk to lay her eggs on. After the spider has laid her eggs she covers them with silk web. The leaf curling spider then weaves silk between the edges of the leaf to gently close it. The silk is woven backwards and forwards to pull the leaf together to protect the egg sac inside.

When the edges are sealed the female pulls her folded leaf egg sac closer to a branch. She leaves it dangling on a strong, short thread.

Female leaf curling spider preparing to lay eggs into a leaf she'll use as her egg sack.

Female leaf curling spider sealing her egg sac leaf

How are leaf-curling spiders adapted to their environment?

Hiding away in a dead leaf is a survival strategy used by leaf-curling spiders. There are many benefits to not being seen by both predators and prey.

Leaf-curling spiders ambush their prey during the day. They feed in the day but weave new webs at night and create their curled leaf shelter and folded leaf egg sac at night when leaves are softer for bending.

Leaf curling spiders use a silk line to drop to the ground. Once on the ground they look for a suitable leaf to build a shelter. A thread of silk is attached to the leaf and towed back to the web. They coil the leaf or fold it vertically and seal it closed with silk. The leaf is formed into a vertical tube to hide in. The leaf serves as protection from predators and used to cleverly disguise themselves from flying insects.

With just their legs resting on the web, leaf curling spiders feel the vibrations of struggling insects caught in the web. They rush out of the leaf to paralyse their prey with a toxic bite which also dissolves the insides of the insect. The insects are wrapped in silk to still them.

Leaf curling spiders use their legs to feel the vibrations of struggling insects.

Related fact sheets

More invertebrate fact sheets

• Invertebrate fact sheets – overview
• Arachnids fact sheet – overview (body parts, arachnid groups and huntsman case study)
• St Andrew’s Cross spider fact sheet – another orb-web spider for comparison
• Trapdoor spider fact sheet – contrasts orb-weaving with burrow-dwelling ambush hunters
• Huntsman spider fact sheet – large active hunting spider (no web)
• Golden orb weaving spider fact sheet – another large orb-weaving spider for comparison

Habitats and ecosystems

• Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet
• Shrub habitats fact sheet

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