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A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders
by Joseph K H Koh
  Long-Bellied Cyclosa Spider
Cyclosa bifida (Doleschall) 1859
 
close-up of female showing long belly
 Female		 Classification: Family Araneidae, Orb-Web Spiders.
Habitat: Primary and secondary forests.
Female: 4-6 mm.
Distribution: Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, India, Northern Australia.
Structurally, Cyclosa spiders can be easily recognised by the characteristic U-shaped demarcation between the raised "head" (the cephalic part of the cephalothorax) and the flat thoracic region. The egg-sac is yellowish brown and woolly in appearance.

Spiders of the genus Cyclosa decorate their vertical orb-webs with a band of rubbish made of remains of insects bound in silk. web showing debrisThe spider sits in the hub and appears to be a part of the debris, thereby camouflaging itself. The vertical orb-web is decorated by a vertical band of debris through the centre.
web showing band of rubbish
Web of Cyclosa confraga (above)
and Cyclosa micula (left)
  From "A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders" by Joseph K. H. Koh
BP Guide to Nature Series published by the Singapore Science Centre and sponsored by British Petroleum
© 2000 Joseph K H Koh