It pays to take a second look at what appears to be nasty drops of fowl shit from afar. The small granular piles of brown and yellow that lie on broad waxy leaves in brazen daylight could turn out to be a body in disguise. Like this crab spider (probably Phrynarachne ceylonica) that sat on a shrub at the Botanic Gardens' rainforest in wait for flies and other feeders of avian scat. The thomisid has an broad, flattish opisthosoma with ungainly knobs that simulate the random splatter of fresh poo. The chemical brilliance of bird intestines is mimicked by the forelegs which boast a rich gold tone ending with jet black metatarsi. She refused to budge no matter what angle I adopted to capture her repose, glaring fearlessly from eight beady black eyes. Had my duck stooped closer to sniff her charms, she'd had released a scent to repel my sensitive new age nose. For this spider not only looks like crap, but smells like it too.
oh my god i cant believe that's there is something called a crap spider
Posted by: bobby | 22 October 2010 at 06:28 AM