The spider is distinguished by having a curled leaf at the centre of its web, in which it shelters. The abdomen is a plump oval or egg shape, light in colour with a dark mark at the rear from which the species name "melanopyga" is derived.[5] Additional dark marks form a pattern dorsally on the abdomen. The legs are light brown with the joints darker. Females are 9mm in length and males 7mm.
References
^Kallal, R. J. & Hormiga, G.. (2018b). Systematics, phylogeny and biogeography of the Australasian leaf-curling orb-weaving spiders (Araneae: Araneidae: Zygiellinae), with a comparative analysis of retreat evolution. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society184(4): 1055-1141. [1]
^Platnick, N. I. 2008. Araneidae The World Spider Catalog, version 9.0. American Museum of Natural History.
^Kuntner, M., J. A. Coddington & G. Hormiga. 2008. Phylogeny of extant nephilid orb-weaving spiders (Araneae, Nephilidae): testing morphological and ethological homologies. Cladistics24: 190. [2]
^Whyte, Robert; Anderson, Greg (2017). A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia. Clayton South Vic. 3169: CSIRO publishing. p. 112. ISBN9780643107076.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)