Spiderbloggers

New topic to start recording observations of these fabulous, yet pretty mysterious, spiders. Not a lot is known about them, so they don't really have a common name, but flat rock spider is sometimes used. ANY observations by anyone else would be really welcome. Especially if someone can find one which they can observe over time. It's a matter of shining torches down likely gaps in Australia. Any reference to their behaviour in any resource would be welcome too.

I have two on my regular rounds. Both are in locations which have had a Morebilus there for 4 years now. One was "Twiggy" in my book, Spiders: learning to love them. Naming spiders was my way to overcome my fear of them and reduce them to individuals. It's not something I need anymore, now that I'm an obsessed archnophile, but the many kids who come to visit my spiders like to give them names for the same reason. The second Morebilus is in the gap between the edging veranda plank and the deck itself. I called the first one Rebel (from Morebilus) and their tendency to occasionally jump up in their gaps in a defensive act. It was that which made me notice her in the first place.

So do these moderns live much longer than others? I thought that Rebel got smaller at one stage, so I assumed it was a younger one in the same spot. But both locations have had a fairly full sized spider in them. Twiggy originally sat on two egg sacs. Both are still there, just well dried. I haven't seen egg sacs in Rebel's location, but they could well be out of my line of sight down the very narrow gap. There are always slaters (wood lice) in that gap as well.

I see plenty of others, apart from my two regulars. Sometimes I disturb one when gardening. Often I disturb them under books or other objects in the shed where I write. They are so flat that they get into gaps where there appears to be no gap! There are often males wandering. We clearly have a significant population of them. Here is a photo of a male roaming around the other day, showing the fairly distinctive rear leg position.

We found this one under a slab of bark from a huge old eucalypt in the Brisbane ranges last week. You can see in the second pic that the pedicel (is that the word for the join between cephalathorax and abdomen?) is extended. At first I thought it had been damaged, but the spider moved, and everything went back ibnto its normal arrangement.

Sorry about the delay in replying. We've been in Adelaide at an archaeology conference. We thought our accommodation had Wifi, but it didn't. I suffered from withdrawal! We've driven all the way back today, so i am exhausted and need sleep. I'll reply to the others tomorrow. I could see your messages on the iPhone but couldn't reply. I'm still new at the iPhone.

That pedicel (yes, it is the right word) is weird. But you think it was fine and moved normally? It wasn't stuck under that wood, was it? The colouring is significantly different, so I suspect it is a different species. Mine were all in place when we got home. I checked all my spiders!

Here's a good photo of Rebel at last. She is in the same spot every night, but usually further back in her crevice on the edge of the veranda. Really hard to photograph. There has been a Morebilus plagusius in this corner for the last three years. I assume it is not the same one. She seems to get smaller and then back to full size, but it is so hard to judge down a crevice. She's full size again at the moment. I have yet to see any sign of an egg sac, but they could be down underneath or in a more hidden spot. I have also never seen young at that point, but plenty of young around the back veranda. I have to be very careful moving pots because they are often under them. Here's Rebel (or Rebel2 or Rebel3):

These spiders are very intriguing to me. I like this picture, it shows how flat they really are! Amazing creatures.