Our June 2022 spider of the month (SOTM) is this inland black button spider (Latrodectus renivulvatus; Theridiidae), found by Wessel Pretorius during a Spider Club spider walk at the Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve in the Overberg region, and photographed by Jarrod Todd. This is the more common and widespread of four black button/widow spiders found in … Read more

Our May 2022 spider of the month is this horned bark spider (Caerostris sexcuspidata), found by Ruan Booysen in the Namaqua National Park in the Northern Cape. “Representatives of the genus Caerostris (Araneae: Araneidae) are colloquially known as bark spiders,” said Ruan. “Once you see them, it is pretty obvious where they get their name … Read more

The spider of the month (SOTM) is this black-spotted camaricus crab spider (Camaricus nigrotesselatus; Thomisidae), taken by Desiré Pelser in Kloof, KZN. They are also called ladybird crab spiders, or, as I sometimes call them, Deadpool crab spiders. There are no suggested common names on iNaturalist yet, but I suppose they could also be called “painted crab … Read more