Dome Spider

Description:

Araneidae; Cyrtophora; Cyrtophora cicatrosa Stoliczka, 1869. The two most obvious characteristics of the Dome Spider must surely be its diminutive size and its dense, three-dimensional web. Both of these factors make this spider (for me) one of the most challenging to photograph. Hence, the terrible shots, but I post them anyway because I think it is important to document this spider's presence in the area in which II live. Pic #1. Everything is so small, here, that I did not see the prey item (possibly a small beetle or bug) until I was preparing my pictures for uploading. Pic #2. A front view of the dome. Pic #3. A back view of the dome. These last two photos were taken within minutes of the first one, but the prey is gone. The spider must have dropped it or stashed it while I was fiddling with my camera in a hopeless attempt to get a better photo.

Habitat:

This Dome Spider was spotted in our backyard where it had built its web on a Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii). Plant information from - http://www.stuartxchange.org/CoronaDeEsp...

Notes:

My previous spottings of this species - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/54... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/10... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/89... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/45...