During our stay at Sleepy Hollow we went on a couple of the trails they have around the valley. The one morning we ventured up to the lookout point and took the new Rooikat Trail down into the valley. As it was only marked the day before, we were the first visitors to take it on and it was still very rough going. But still it was worth it. On the way down I noticed these tiny (the biggest ones were no more than 10 millimeters in diameter) little mushrooms (fungi) growing on a tree and while the family walked on I sat down to get a couple of close-up shots of them.
After two or three photos I noticed the slightest bit of movement between the mushrooms and found this little guy. According to my
The Wildlife of Southern Africa guide it’s a Bark Spider. They are mostly nocturnal and remove their web at dawn. During the day they rest perfectly camouflaged against the bark of a tree. Their colouring imitates bark and lichen and due to their size (8 – 22 millimeters) and camouflage are very rarely seen.
During our stay at Sleepy Hollow we went on a couple of the trails they have around the valley. The one morning we ventured up to the lookout point and took the new Rooikat Trail down into the valley. As it was only marked the day before, we were the first visitors to take it on and it was still very rough going. But still it was worth it. On the way down I noticed these tiny (the biggest ones were no more than 10 millimeters in diameter) little mushrooms (fungi) growing on a tree and while the family walked on I sat down to get a couple of close-up shots of them.
After two or three photos I noticed the slightest bit of movement between the mushrooms and found this little guy. According to my The Wildlife of Southern Africa guide it’s a Bark Spider. They are mostly nocturnal and remove their web at dawn. During the day they rest perfectly camouflaged against the bark of a tree. Their colouring imitates bark and lichen and due to their size (8 – 22 millimeters) and camouflage are very rarely seen.
That's one tiny spider. Nice capture. If you're interested in SA bugs you should check out this http://saphotographs.blogspot.com/ I send her to your site already.
Oh my gosh! How interesting is that? You see how we so easily miss things by not LOOKING! Your children sure are lucky as you're exposing them to nature so beautifully! Tell me about this spider – is it poisonous?
Hello Jonker. What a lovely find this spider was. So many things are found unexpectedly like this.I see we have two things in common, our birth sign and I was also in the tourist industry for over 22 years, mostly tours to Kruger.