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Wrap-around spider

Dolophones sp.

Photo by Mark Ridgway
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

A tricky little spider which I only noticed when it moved onto a green stem from a grey one. Strongly resembling a broken twig node it was about 8mm across it's body.

Habitat:

On twigs of Acacia mearnsii in a local nature reserve.

Notes:

At last I found one of this genus. Unique to Australia.. 17 species listed on ALA but further documentation for most species named is scarce. <br> http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:de…

Reference Links:

Dolophones | Atlas of Living Australia

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (33)
StephenSolomons
Wow Mark, What a beauty. Congratulations on the spotting of day
AntónioGinjaGinja
Awesome find Mark,amazing mimetism,congrats on the super well deserved SOTD and thanks for sharing
Jae
Congrats on the well deserved SOTD, Mark.
Tom15
Nice one Mark it looks like a bump on the twig. Congrats on an interesting SOTD!
Neil Ross
A much-deserved SOTD. Nice one, Mark.
RiekoS
Congratulations! Very interesting.
Maria dB
What great camouflage; the fourth photo shows that so well. Congratulations!
CharliePrice
Just knew this little one was going to be a HIT ..Congrats :)
Mark Ridgway
..added context pic #4.. thanks everyone for positive comments :-)
AshleyT
What a cute little spider! Congrats on sotd :)
Mark Ridgway
Wow thanks Yasser. This was a happy find and great entertainment. Like so many 'wanted' finds it made me laugh to see how small they really are. So much descriptive work remains to be done in this country.
Leuba Ridgway
Congratulations Mark ! A brilliant specimen - perfectly camouflaged on a wattle branch..
James McNair
Great images Mark...as always! Congrats on SOTD!
Yasser
Mark, these are fantastic shots of a fascinating spider. Thanks for all you do for the community and thanks for sharing this wonderful spotting. Congratulations on Spotting of the Day! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/photos/a.10150595289465603.674700.10150120463815603/10154846773850603 Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/535644805360267264
StephenSolomons
By the way Ron Atkinson was looking to add to his collections of images of spiders so if he doesn't have it he may enjoy getting a copy of the image. The further we share the images the less likely rare finds are to be lost
StephenSolomons
,Yeah Ron Atkinson (Find a Spider Guide) and Rob Whyte (Arachne.org) have both had emails from me and discussed spider ID. I have known Ron the longest
Mark Ridgway
Thanks guys. Stephen I noticed your on ALA.. did you get the ID from 'Find-a-spider' man?
StephenSolomons
A lot of these seem to be unknown as far as species.Very nice spotting mate!
Neil Ross
Sweet spotting, Mark. You've got good eyes. Or perhaps it's the cosmic glasses?
Mark Ridgway
Thanks Daniele. I found a new focus option on my pocket cam after all these years. I think it looks a little grumpy though. Ernst... we will just have to keep the typo as comments can not be edited.. please forgive me Aussies.. thanks anyway.
DanielePralong
Such a perfect wrap-around Mark. The first shot is just stunning!
Mark Ridgway
Thanks Ernst. I found two other pictures but no name. Do you know the species name?
Mark Ridgway
My first wrap-around. :-) You'd love these... so small and very cute - a bit like the jumpers but unlike the jumpers these don't run away - they just trust their mimicry and hunker down.
CharliePrice
wow ...clever camouflage and mimicking....spiders are amazing.
Photographed
PublishedNovember 19, 2014

Spotted for Missions

Mission
International Spider Survey
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Mimetic Animals of the World
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Dandenong Ranges - fauna & flora
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Mission WILD

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