When I first saw the little thing from a distance ...
... I thought that it's just a bird dropping. When I came closer, it looked too structured and symmetric to be that shit. Because of the two spots that looked like eyes, the first thought was: This must be the head of some unknown, maybe even alien, lifeform.
Through the macro lens, and from a different angle the perception changed considerably. What looked like the head, now resembled a caramel candy, and minuscule folded legs were visible.
When I touched it, the arachnid showed its legs and pedipalps, so it finally, unmistakably looked like a spider. Although, definitely like a bizarre little spider.
(Enlargeable)
Cyrtarachne ixoides is commonly known as the pretty uncommon, rare spider with the long, descriptive name - White-banded Bird-dropping Spider. This species is found sparsely in various parts of the Mediterranean, in southern Europe, North Africa, and the Near East, and always in small numbers, as a rarity. Interestingly, besides in the Mediterranean region, the Cyrtarachne ixoides can be seen also in Madagascar.
The spider obviously mimics the bird droppings, and quite successfully so. It recreates also the moisture of a fresh, uninviting dropping.
It's an orb-weaving spider from the Araneidae family, but I never saw it on its web. I saw this species only two times in my life. Three years ago was the first time. Those old photographs, taken with the simple compact camera, no macro lens involved, appeared last year here on HIVE, in a generic post about flora and fauna of my area.
This summer I came across this amazing little spider again, equipped with better tools to get more crisp and detailed pictures.
Today, I mean some minutes ago, while writing this post, I also find out that the spiders from this genus (Cyrtarachne), differently from other typical orb-weavers (Araneidae) build their orbs horizontally.
One article states that "The ecology of this species is very poorly known. It seems to prefer scrublands and uncultivated hedges
where it lives on vegetation"
I found it on reeds at the edge of the meadow, not far from the sea.
Nearby, on the vegetation under the tall reeds, I photographed this female of the Pisaura mirabilis spider that was holding its cocoon.
And that' it. A quick look at some summer stuff encapsulated in the photographs. As always in these posts on HIVE, the photographs are my work - THE END.