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Eresus walckenaeri
Eresus walckenaeri is a species of ladybird spider from the eastern Mediterranean and probably the commonest Eresus species in Greece. Only mature male ladybird spiders have the classic red body with four black spots, while females are velvet black or dark grey. The pictured male was spotted and photographed in Kassandra peninsula, Chalkidiki Greece.
Spotted on May 25, 2019
Submitted on Mar 24, 2020
15 Comments
Beautiful spider Despina. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on the nomination for SOTW.
Thank you so much @Mark Ridgway and fellow P.N. Rangers for the nomination!
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
Eresus is one of my favorite spider genera, @Mark! Just because they are so striking beautiful, both males and females!
Fantastic. Looks like a plush toy.
He surely is a lovely male, @Leuba!
That is one handsome spider- Stunning !
Dear @Neil Ross, what's interesting about this genus is that their common name describes the males, and not the females...Yet, both genders are lovely!
Dear @Marek Koszorek, I love the females as well, I think they are fascinating, and they are exceptional mothers!
Dear @Saturniidae27, you are correct, they do look like red velvet buttons with legs!
Dear @ornithoptera80, fortunately the species is very common in Greece, along with at least 3 more species of the Eresus genus. Males are bright red with black spots and white stripes on their legs, and they are super cute and harmless! In the last pic you may see the actual size!
what an amazing and beautiful spider, I have never seen one with those colors before.
Love the button looking abdomen.
https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/21...
Female spotted also in Kassandra 馃槉
Nice spotting, Despina. It's a pretty spider, and certainly true to it's name.