Garden Orb-weaving Leaf-curling Spider doesn't look so fearsome sitting in middle of web. But let's see things from the male perspective: small blob (circled black, top left). Imagine coming home late after a feral night out and getting a biff from a missus so much larger. Worse, of course, to be the main course by being too slow after a quickie.
Sharing almost the same patch is another weaver, longer, but considerably slimmer, which A Guide to the Spiders of Australia leads me to identify as a Tear-drop Spider. So resolutely does it present the under view I've never in several weeks seen this spider's back.
Which is definitely not the case with Grey Huntsman, probably the scariest common hairy encounter for archnaphobes. It will change nothing, but no spider ever struck me as going out of its way to terrify Miss Muffet. Aversion therapy, anyone?
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