Orb-weaver Spider

Description:

Neoscona molemensis Tikader & Bal, 1981 is an Orb-weaver spider. This one appeared to be setting up its retreat - a hiding place (usually a rolled-up leaf) where it is concealed from predators, but still manages to detect prey landing on its web. This is achieved by silk threads which run from the retreat to the orb web, a short distance away. These threads transmit vibrations to the spider, alerting it to the struggles of prey, stuck on the web. I could not get a photo of the web because the only available angle of view was pointing directly into the sunlight, but I did get one photo showing some of the threads running down to the web from the retreat (the photo was taken from behind the retreat).

Habitat:

This spider was spotted on a sapling Guava Tree (Psidium guajava Linn.) locally known, in the philippines, as Bayabas. Plant information from - http://www.stuartxchange.com/Bayabas.htm...