• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Trending Worldwide
  • Careers

Bom Boh

enthusiasm for knowledge

Ad example

Lichen Huntsman Spider

by David Walker Leave a Comment

ShareTweet

On my late night bathroom visits, my bathroom tenant would look very unimpressed with me for interrupting her dinner!

Yes, you read that right. But, the tenant was an eight-legged giant spider which would make a meal of cockroaches that would emerge from the bathroom sink in the dead of the night.

These spiders belonging to the family Sparassidae are collectively called huntsman spiders because of the agility and speed with which they take down their prey. All spiders in this family have a signature eye arrangement that consists of eight eyes arranged in two seemingly parallel rows of four.

Heteropoda venatoria, a huntsman spider that we commonly see in homes.

Although most of our spider encounters are limited to the relatively common Heteropoda venatoria that we find in our homes, there are many more huntsman spiders that have adapted to various habitats. One such huntsman spider belongs to the genus Pandercetes and lives in the tropical forests of Asia and Australia. They are commonly referred to as Lichen Huntsman spiders, as the textures and colours on their body closely resemble that of lichen. Their legs have lateral hairs which gives them a feathery appearance, masking their outline further against the tree trunk. With an expertise over camouflage and its huntsman lineage, this spider is the true master of its vertical domain.

My pursuit to see the Lichen Huntsman spider began after I came across an image by Dr Abhijith APC, of an individual he had photographed in Sirsi. All my field trips to the forest patches nearby in search of this spider usually left me in dismay and I started wondering if it even existed in our lowland forests. One day, I received a call from my good friend Sanath RM, who came across one in Thirthahalli. He was affirmative about its presence in lowland forests too.

So, a trip was planned to a forest nearby and the entire day was spent in search of arthropods. As darkness creeped in, we turned on our torches. I was observing a huntsman spider with a punctured egg sac and little spiderlings were peeking out of it. Excitedly, I called out to Sanath to show him this moment.

As he approached me, his headlamp reflected a shine from the bark that was adjacent to me. When he got closer, it became clearer that the shine was coming from a lichen patch on the tree, and suddenly he exclaimed “guys, Lichen Huntsman!”. I looked to my left and there it was, sitting motionless on the tree bark right in front of which we all had spent about six hours without even noticing it.

Hiding in plain sight – a Lichen Huntsman spider on a lichen patch on a tree bark.

Since then, I came across several Lichen Huntsman spiders in both lowland and highland forests. I have also been lucky enough to have recorded its breeding cycle. Here, through this series of photographs, I take you through the characteristics and breeding cycle of the incredible Lichen Huntsman.

Lichen Huntsman spiders are the true masters of camouflage.
The signature eye arrangement of huntsman spiders that consists of eight eyes arranged in two seemingly parallel rows of four.
A female Lichen Huntsman spider guarding her egg case.
It is hard to differentiate the spider or the egg case from the lichen patch on the tree!
The camouflage game begins early! Baby Lichen Huntsman spiders on a tree bank, as indistinguishable as the adults.
Another example of the spider’s mastery over camouflage.
Lichen Huntsman spiders have been recorded from both lowland and highland evergreen forests.

Facebook Comments Box

Filed Under: Animal Tagged With: Bathroom Pests, Cockroach Control, Huntsman Spiders, Nocturnal Creatures, Spiders

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

More to See

These Trees Freeze in Strange Shapes in Northern Finland, Creating an Otherworldly Landscape

By David Walker

Photo by Lea Maimone (Wikimedia)

A Menace to Society? – Caiman

By David Walker

Why Woodpeckers Don’t Get Headaches From Hammering

By David Walker

A 4-Year-Old Boy Goes Out To Play And Returns With A Baby Deer He Befriended In The Woods

By David Walker

Rare polka-dotted zebra foal photographed in Kenya

By David Walker

It Can Be Just As Painful To Lose A Pet As It Is To Lose A Loved One

By David Walker

Couple Watches as Their Golden Retriever Is Mistreated By Their Neighbors Till They Can No Longer Look At It

By David Walker

Footer

Bom Boh

We Love Animals give you the news that truly matters to you. Read, look and share the things you are interested in. Welcome!

Recent

  • This Brawny Beluga Gives A Whole New Meaning to ‘Muscle Beach’
  • Crested Kingfisher Has A Shaggy Mohawk And Stunning White Plumage Flecked With Black On Back And Wings
  • Australia’s oldest wombat Patrick turns 29 years old
  • During Cold Weather, People Discover Bobcat Frozen On Train Tracks
  • The World’s Largest Edible Mushroom Coexists with Termites, Which Is Why It Grows So Big

Search

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in