Dome Spider

Description:

When I took the above pictures, I was looking around for examples of spider webs which were no longer occupied and had fallen into disrepair. My intention was to post the resulting spotting and place it in the mission "Signs of Wildlife". I thought that the web shown here would be appropriate because of its untidy appearance and the absence of the spider which had built it. It was only when I was prepairing the photo on my laptop screen that I noticed the very small Dome Spider - Cyrtophora cicatrosa. This, of course, ruled out the "Signs of Wildlife" mission.

Habitat:

This Cyrtophora cicatrosa was spotted in our front yard. Its web was built in a hedge of Dwarf santan (Ixora coccinea Linn.) locally known as Santan-pula. Plant information from - http://www.stuartxchange.org/Santan.html....

Notes:

Apologies for the poor picture of the spider, but it is viewed through several layers of its three-dimensional web. Also, the particles of leaf litter which often clutter webs on windy days during the dry season (and which made this web a possible candidate for the Signs of Wildlife mission) make it almost impossible to see clearly into the web.