On occasions a walk in the woods seems to be brought to a halt at the space between every tree or bush. There is something unsettling about a face full of spider web … perhaps it’s the thought of a mouth full of spider.
This guy is the Australian Jewel Spider AKA the Christmas Spider because it’s especially common at this time of the year.
Austracantha minax
The female is larger and usually more colorful than the male. They weave webs that are very effective at catching flying insects. The webs may be the work of a single spider or a group effort of up to 30 spiders with shared support threads.
Here’s one in its web …
They can be found throughout Australia, males grow to about 3mm long, females 7 to 10 mm.
bobmcgee 
Great shoot. Merry X-mas.