Scorpion-Tailed Spider Identification: A. higginsi

About the Scorpion-tailed spider

The scorpion-tailed spider, Arachnura higginsi, is an Australian orb-weaver, not a scorpion or a spider–scorpion hybrid. A mature female is one of the country’s most distinctive spiders: her small front body leads into a broad abdomen with two raised “shoulders”, then narrows into a long flexible tail ending in dark soft lobes. The spinnerets lie well before the tip, proving that the tail is abdomen rather than a stinger. Females reach about 15–16 mm in body length, but the tiny 2–3 mm male has no tail and can look like an unrelated spider. Confirm a likely female using the sloping, incomplete orb web, missing upper sector, egg-sac line and documented Australian range as well as the body shape.

Exact-species specimen views

These licensed exact-taxon photographs show useful anatomy and variation. Use each caption for record and image context; no single image set represents every colour, posture or habitat.

How to identify Arachnura higginsi safely

Identify the adult female from structure before colour. The cephalothorax is small, while the abdomen begins broad with a pair of horn-like shoulders projecting forward over the rear of the cephalothorax. It then tapers into a long mobile extension whose tip carries several dark, soft tubercles. The spinnerets open on the underside roughly halfway along the abdomen, so the apparent tail beyond them cannot deliver venom or sting. At rest the female often holds her legs close and hangs head-down at the hub, making the whole outline resemble dry leaf or plant debris. The tail may curve forward over the body when disturbed. This combination is highly distinctive in a mature female, but a close view is still needed to rule out damage, attached debris or another angular orb-weaver.

Clues that are not enough on their own

• Any spider with an apparently pointed abdomen, because several orb-weavers have humps, spines or angular outlines
• A raised tail pose without confirming eight legs, no scorpion pincers and the orb web
• Bright yellow, pink or red colour alone, because juveniles change colour and many other garden spiders are vivid
• A circular web without the characteristic missing upper sector, sloping position and female body form
• A tiny tailless spider on the web edge, because the male cannot be identified by the female’s signature tail

Colour, sex and life-stage variation

Adult females are commonly fawn, cream or brown with a darker tail tip, helping them blend with egg sacs and debris. Large juveniles can instead be vivid yellow, pink, red or patterned, and the tail becomes longer through successive moults. Shoulder height, tail curve and dark markings vary, so one exact silhouette is not a reliable species key. The male is radically different: only about 2–3 mm long, tailless and much harder to notice, sometimes near the edge of a female’s web. Current AFD and World Spider Catalog records use Arachnura higginsi; older sources and the 2019 revision may print Arachnura higginsii, and the original name was Epeira higginsii. The four exact-species photographs here show the same pale Bathurst female from above, below and two side angles, not the full colour range or the tiny male.

Behaviour, web and retreat

The female maintains an orb web close to foliage, often sloping but sometimes vertical or pie-slice shaped. Australian Museum’s Web2Spider guide gives a common diameter of about 20–40 cm, fewer radii than some garden or golden orb webs and an incomplete upper sector. In late summer and autumn, woolly yellow-brown egg sacs may be strung from the web’s upper frame through that missing sector; the female rests at the lowest sac near the hub, so spider, sacs and captured-prey debris form one camouflaged line. Small flying insects are intercepted by sticky spiral silk. The spider detects vibration through the radii and moves to secure prey, but normally relies on stillness and disguise around people. Curling the tail when disturbed is display and movement, not preparation to sting.

Australian distribution

The Australian Faunal Directory treats A. higginsi as endemic and records it from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, with the extra range note “present in all states except NT, south of ca. 24°S latitude”. Atlas of Living Australia maps museum and observation records across that broad southern range. The 2019 revision concluded that A. higginsi occurs only in Australia; New Zealand records belong to A. feredayi. It also reported one tentatively identified A. melanura female in south-eastern Queensland and two unresolved northern Queensland juveniles. Consequently, a mature female south of the stated latitude with the full web-and-body pattern is a strong match, while an unusual northern juvenile should remain Arachnura or orb-weaver until expert review.

What to do if you find one

Leave the spider and web in place when practical. It is a small insect predator and its incomplete orb usually occupies a limited gap in foliage. Photograph without blowing on the spider, plucking silk or prodding the abdomen to trigger a tail curl. A ruler held beside—not against—the web can document scale. If a web blocks a path, wait until the spider is stationary, place a wide container behind it and gently guide it with stiff card; release it into nearby sheltered vegetation with suitable web supports. Avoid relocating egg sacs unless the whole supporting twig can be moved intact. A vacant-looking web may still hold a tiny male, juvenile or camouflaged female. If a bite is genuinely suspected, stop handling, clean the site and respond to symptoms rather than assuming the scorpion-like shape means scorpion venom.

Compare with similar spiders

Use body shape, web or retreat, location and behaviour together before settling on a likely match.

• Garden orb weaver — Garden orb-weaver - also builds a sticky orb among foliage and varies from brown to colourful, but normally has a rounded or oval abdomen without the paired high shoulders and long flexible tail. Use the web and full dorsal outline together.
• Three-lobed spider — Three-lobed spider - Cyclosa trilobata has a hard angular abdomen divided into three rear lobes and may align with debris in an orb. Its lobes do not form the long soft movable tail of an adult female A. higginsi.
• Bird-dropping spider — Bird-dropping spider - can be cream, brown and oddly shaped while resting on foliage, but has a broad bird-dropping disguise and hunts moths without maintaining the same incomplete capture orb. A spider found away from its web still needs a clear dorsal view.
• Wrap-around spider — Wrap-around spider - Dolophones females flatten around twigs by day and build an orb at night, creating another elongated camouflaged outline. They have a broad flattened abdomen that hugs bark rather than a narrow flexible tail ending in dark lobes.

Sources for this profile

These accessible authoritative sources support the identification and bite-safety context on this page.

• Australian Faunal Directory: Arachnura higginsi
• Atlas of Living Australia: Arachnura higginsi
• Australian Museum: Web2Spider scorpion-tailed spider guide
• Fauna Portal: Arachnura
• Zootaxa: Revision of Australian and New Zealand Arachnura
• World Spider Catalog: Arachnura higginsi
• healthdirect: Spider bites

Profile review

Published by Spider Identifier Australia. Last factual review: 10 August 2026.