They are commonly known as double-tailed tent spiders because of the pair of blunt projections at the end of their abdomens.

They are easily distinguishable by their shape, the markings on their backs, and the way the females have the habit of guarding their eggs by splaying their bodies over them.

Their common name 'double-tailed tent spider' comes from the pair of blunt projections at the posterior end of their abdomens.

[4][5][6] Like other members of the genus Cyrtophora, the upper side of the cephalothorax of double-tailed tent spiders are flattened.

[1] They also possess the characteristic pair of humps on the front side of their abdomen, somewhat resembling 'shoulders' and giving them the distinctive triangular shape.

In some individuals two somewhat wavy and sometimes 'beaded' chalk-white line patterns are clearly visible, running from the front of the abdomen, to the tip of the 'humps', and down to below its pair of 'tails'.

[8] Double-tailed tent spiders are sexually dimorphic, with the males generally far smaller than the females.

[1] Double-tailed tent spiders were first described by the Slovakian military surgeon Carl Ludwig Doleschall while stationed in Java in 1859 with the Dutch army.

[13] Double-tailed tent spiders usually build their webs in branches of trees or shrubs, using surrounding leaves and twigs as a framework.

Unlike the others, however, the orb webs of double-tailed tent spiders are often shaped more like a pan or a bowl.

Double-tailed tent spiders will regularly clean their webs, usually at night, though they will retain some bits and pieces of debris for camouflage.

[5] Because of the relatively large size of web, they are often infested with kleptoparasitic split-faced silver spiders (Argyrodes fissifrons).

The relationships can sometimes be commensal or even mutual, as A. fissifrons eat prey entangled in the webs that are too small for the larger double-tailed tent spiders.

Double-tailed tent spiders seem to tolerate their presence though they sometimes have to shove them away when they catch larger prey.

Their native range extends from Australia to southern Japan and from the Philippines and Papua New Guinea to as far west as India.