Rare Xbox Spider Found in Australia: What is Orb-Weaver?

An oddly marked spider that resembles the emblem of a well-known gaming console is making waves online.

The green spider, often known as the "X-box spider," was discovered close to Geelong and had a striking cross on its back. The spider was shot by Kim Proudlove and reported to Yahoo! News as being under 1 centimeter long.

US-ANIMALS-SPIDERS
An Emperor scorpion wants out of a bowl during a media preview for "Spiders Alive" July 1, 2014 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The museum has the largest collection of research spiders. DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images

And as she looked online to learn more about it, her discovery was enthusiastically welcomed.

Rare Spider With Xbox Logo Seen in Australia

Recent information from the Daily Mail UK claims that the unusual orb-weaver spider found in Australia has patterns that resemble the Xbox official emblem.

Nik Willmott, a Ph.D. candidate, speculated that the odd spider might be a speckled or green orb-weaver. Depending on how experts perceive it.

Willmott remarked that the fainter longitudinal stripe was harder for him to discern, and it is much more unusual for a spider to have both stripes.

The unique spider's body is green, as seen in the picture. Its two overlapping lighter green lines give it the look of the Xbox logo.


"I don't see the fainter longitudinal stripe as much, and having both stripes on the same spider is even rarer," Willmott said in the same Yahoo! News report.

The unusual orb-weaver spider was found as the Australian government warned about the rising spider populations in areas hit by intense flooding and heavy rain.

There are a lot of strange-looking spider findings in Australia. A Sydney guy's discovery of a "sushi" spider in 2019 garnered international attention.

Orb Weaving Spider Explained

Over 100 species of the Garden Orb Weaving Spiders have been identified in the land down under, Australia Museum said.

The Garden Orb Weavers are frequently observed as thick, reddish-brown or grey spiders with a pattern like a leaf on their fat, approximately triangular abdomens. These abdomens also have two distinct humps near the front. They can have a dorsal stripe that is brown or white with white edges.

The Garden Orb Weavers create large, robust, vertical orb webs. Typically, the spider spins its web at night and takes it down again in the morning. While waiting for prey, the spider lies head-down in the center of the web.

There are orb-weaving spiders all around Australia. Eriophora biapicata and E. transmarina are often seen as Garden Orb Weavers in eastern and southern Australia.

A-Z Animals shared other entertaining information on orb-weavers:

  • Because they are passive and non-aggressive, orb-weavers rarely bite.
  • Some female orb-weavers eat their male counterparts.
  • Male and female orb-weaver spiders differ in size.
  • Globally, there are more than 3,000 different species of orb-weavers.

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