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

Our March 2022 spider of the month (SOTM) is this hedgehog spider (Pycnacantha cf. tribulus) in the orb-web spider family (Araneidae), taken by Geoff Lockwood. He found the spider in Lakenvlei, Mpumalanga, in calf-high grass, busy guarding her egg sac. Pycnacantha means “thick (or densely) thorned”, originating from the Greek pyknon (thick, dense) and akantha … Read more