#1699 - Corasoides sp. - Western Web Dasher
Second photo by Colin Prickett. First one mine, in bushland at Carbunup.
Also known as Trampoline Spiders, and Australian Labyrinth Spiders.
Corasoides is a genus of Australian and Papua New Guinea spiders first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1929. Originally placed with the Agelenidae (Funnel-weavers), then moved to the Stiphidiidae (Sheetweb Spiders) in 1973, and to the Desidae (the Intertidal Spiders) after a 2017 genetic study.
As you can probably guess from the common names of the spider and its previously presumed relatives, the most distinctive feature of the genus are the webs - in fact, you hardly ever see the spider since it usually hides deep within the labyrinth. What you do see is a complicated tangle of silk down in the undergrowth, with a very densely packed sheet spun out horizontally beneath it. Flying insects blunder into the maze above, and fall down onto the trampoline, where the spider immeadiately dashes out to seize it.
