The JULY Spider of the Month (SOTM) is this undescribed orb-web spider (Araneidae), photographed by Theodore Lee at the Wild Tomorrow Conservation Centre in KwaZulu-Natal.
This post will be short, because we don’t know what genus this belongs to, and Theodore has not yet received my request to provide more information on the find.
It is likely that the spider belongs to the subfamily Cyrtarachninae, and one suggestion made was Pasilobus, and another suggestion on a similar-looking (but still different) spider was Aethrodiscus. Of course it could belong to a different subfamily, and could also be a new genus.
Many of the cyrtarachnines mimic bird droppings, and when they’re not in their webs, they sit flat and dead still on a tree or plant, hoping that predators think they’re just unappetising bird poop. I’m not sure if that’s the case with this spider as well. Cyrtarachnines like Paraplectanaspp. can also mimic ladybird beetles, while others may mimic snails. They do not spin typical orb webs; some are modified orb webs, while others, like the bolas spiders (Cladomelea spp.) do not spin webs at all and catch their prey with a thread of silk with a sticky drop at the end, which is swung like a bolas. Again, we’re not even sure if this spider belongs to this subfamily. They will have to be collected for us to know more about them.
Theodore is from the USA and took this photo during his visit to South Africa in 2023. As the photo was taken in the last 12 months, we could still add it to SOTM. Theodore joined the group when this photo was shared here, so this is his first SOTM. Out of 209 people who voted, his photo received 129 (62%) of the votes. Congratulations, Theodore!
