… also known as Funnel Weavers or Grass Spiders, of the Sheet Web Weaver Guild of spiders. When you see a web like the one above with a tunnel (aka funnel) at the back, the odds are good it is inhabited by one of these spiders.
These medium size spiders have bodies up to three quarters of an inch long. They are usually seen in the tunnel, waiting for something to come into contact with the web outside their lair at which point they rush out and subdue their prey.
The tunnels themselves are typically built deep in the foliage, or back in a crevice. It can be challenging to see what is going on in there. Fortunately these spiders remain very stationary and you have plenty of time to position your camera and carefully adjust the focus and exposure to get a good look. This particular tunnel yielded a bit of a surprise.
It is a bit difficult to make out exactly what is going on, but turns out there are actually 2 spiders back there. Spiders are not social, they do not live together. If you look closely you can see that the spider on the bottom is on its back and appears to be dead. It is possible that one of them came into the others abode and either made a meal out of, or became a meal for the other. However this photograph was taken during mating season. For this reason I suspect that what you are looking at is the act of mating in progress where the male has released pheromones that cause the female to become passive so that she does not treat him like prey. It is also possible that mating has concluded and the female has preyed upon the male.
