Nicodamus peregrinus was formerly called
Nicodamus bicolor. The common name of this spider is Red and black
spider.
Nicodamus peregrinus occurs in Eastern Australia. Nicodamus
mainae looks identical and is found in Western Australia.
This spider, especially the males, waves their front legs and taps the
ground with their palps while walking. The spider lives on the ground
between bark, leaves and other debris. The male is between 8 and 12 mm while
the female is a little larger with a length between 10 and 14 mm.
The head-breast (cephalothorax) is scarlet red. The legs and palps are
coloured red and black and the abdomen is black with a red tip at the end
around the spinners.
The females make a horizontal irregular horizontal tangled sheet-web with a
diameter between 15 and 20 cm in hollow logs or between stones. The egg-sac
is flat made of white fluffy silk filled with 35-50 eggs with a diameter of
around 1 mm. They feed on a variety of insects.
