Cryptachaea veruculata
Diamond Comb-Footed Spider Identification in Australia
Tiny patterned comb-footed spider in a small tangled web, often with a pink-mauve egg sac on vegetation or a sheltered structure.
Usually low riskThe diamond comb-footed spider, Cryptachaea veruculata, is a tiny Australian member of the cobweb-spider family Theridiidae. A mature female is only about 4 mm long and typically has a rounded, patterned abdomen above a small irregular web on green vegetation or a sheltered built structure; a pink to mauve egg sac can be a useful supporting clue. It is easily confused with other small comb-footed spiders, and colour or a “diamond” mark is not enough for species certainty. The strongest field identification combines body size, several clear views, web, egg sac and locality; atypical spiders may need an arachnologist and adult genital anatomy.
Quick identification
- Tiny theridiid build: female about 4 mm and male under 2 mm in Australian field accounts
- Rounded abdomen with a dark central field and contrasting pale, brown or cream patches that may suggest a diamond
- Small three-dimensional tangled web on vegetation or beneath a windowsill, ledge or similar shelter
- Pink to mauve silk egg sac may hang beside a female, but is supporting rather than decisive evidence
- Shorter front legs than the much larger, paler white porch spider
What to check next
Measure body length without legs, photograph the spider from above and side, and include the complete web and any egg sac. Keep the identification at Theridiidae or Cryptachaea when the animal is immature, blurred or lacks the expected combination.
When to seek medical help
No reliable species-specific Australian bite series was found for Cryptachaea veruculata. Two bites once recorded under its former genus were later attributed to the lookalike white porch spider, C. gigantipes, after taxonomic review. This tiny species is not listed among Australia’s medically important spiders, but do not handle it and do not infer harmlessness from size alone. For a witnessed minor bite, wash the site and use a cold pack for pain. Call the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 for advice if symptoms concern you; seek medical care for severe or persistent pain, worsening swelling or illness, and call 000 for collapse, breathing difficulty or anaphylaxis. If a large dark spider could be a funnel-web or mouse spider, follow emergency pressure-immobilisation advice instead of this minor-bite guidance.
Where it is usually seen
Small tangled webs among flowers, shrubs and other green vegetation, and under protected edges such as windowsills, ledges, fences and exterior building corners. Atlas occurrence records span every Australian state and the ACT, but a database point is evidence of a submitted record rather than proof that every local spider with this pattern is C. veruculata.