The shaded pillars of the shelters along the mangrove boardwalk at Sungei Buloh are home to hoards of two-tailed spiders. Casual walkers resting their heels are likely to miss these flat-bodied, long-legged hunters that blend in with the weathered timber and scurry away with exasperating haste at the approach of a shadow. Eggcases of varying sizes also dot the planks like dirty bubbles of congealed silk.
According to one account, these cryptic spiders hunt by lying in wait head down. It then holds the long posterior lateral spinners (the so-called tails) over the prey and "rotates at great speed round and round the prey", while keeping the tips of these spinnerets over the animal, to fix the prey to the surface, presumably so that it can be safely bitten and sucked dry. It must be a strange sight to see one of these spiders holding down an insect with its 'tails' while jigging a circular dance. It's probably a dizzying experience for both the prey and petulant ducks.
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