Simaetha thoracica

Fact Box Species: Simaetha thoracica (QM) or a closely related species (See notes below about similarities between this species and Simaethula species) Family: Salticidae Body length: female: about 6 mm male: about 5 mm Habitat: This salticid may easily be shaken from green leaves of shrubs in eucalypt forests and thus could appear in unexpected places Toxicity: This spider may be too small to cause serious harm but its bites could cause local pain and inflammation if not systemic illness

With an egg sac Abdominal banding A different species? Another view of it

Spider(s) with a very similar appearance: Opisthoncus species and Simaethula species, although the golden scales on the latter spider are replaced by a variable pattern of white scales and some golden scales on S. thoracica, the latter being progressively lost by frushing against foreign objects. The positions of the eyes and the presence of a domed sternum (the underside of the cephalothorax) on Simaetha must be checked with a stereo microscope to distinguish between the two species.