This is the dorsal view of a female Featherlegged Orb-weaver spider. I found her under the stairs at my home.She is nothing but a piece of dry leaf from a distance. In fact the colors and patterns on her was not visible to the eye since she was in a very dark corner. I was utterly shocked to see the patterns and textures on her through the camera. :-)Her abdomen had bulged up considerably which I thought was normal for the species until I found her by the egg case this morning. :-DDorsal view and egg case pictures here: This spider belongs to a family of non-venomous spiders. They lack of venom glands and they kill their prey by crushing with over 140 metres of thread!![wiki]Size: 1 cm approx
This tiny mother spider had a few spiderlings and her suspended egg case on a Ocimum tenuiflorum plant. From a distance she is nothing but a piece of dry leaf, dark brown with no visible colors. She even oscillates like a leaf caught on a web when the wind blows. :-DUp close all her features and colors come alive. :-)The background distractions seen here are her spiderlings and the egg case which is on the right.Close-up of her spiderlings, egg case and lateral shot here: Size: Less than 1cm tip to tip.This spider belongs to a family of non-venomous spiders. They lack of venom glands and they kill their prey by crushing with over 140 metres of thread!![wiki]