Lichen Huntsman Spider

Description:

Sparassidae; Heteropodinae; Pandercetes sp. (poss.) "Pandercetes is a genus of huntsman spiders that was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in his 1875 treatise on Australian spiders. They are mainly distributed in tropical Asia and Australia, and are known for their cryptic coloration that matches local moss and lichen. Their legs have lateral hairs, giving them a feathery appearance, further masking their outline against tree trunks. Their head is somewhat elevated and the carapace has the thoracic region low and flat." Wikipedia. The spider in my pictures above was indeed difficult to photograph and is equally difficult to see in the pictures. The egg sack appears to be stuck to the branch and the spider is guarding it by bracketing it in her legs, pairs 1 & 2 while pairs 3 & 4 are being used to secure the mother herself to the tree. I have photographed this behaviour before and I will make another spotting to further illustrate this behaviour.

Habitat:

This possible Pandercetes sp. was spotted in our back yard during a general clean-up in preparation for the possibility of typhoons in the coming weeks. Some branches were being trimmed from a variety of trees and bushes when my wife alerted me to this spider which she had spotted on a branch which was about to be chopped up for firewood. So one of the workers held the branch with the spider on it while I tried to get some pictures. I have kept the branch, complete with spider and egg sack, in a safe place where I can try to observe it and no one can disturb it.

Notes:

So far, I have not found any documentation supporting the presence in Philippines of The Genus: Pandercetes, but its presence in neighbouring countries is well documented. I believe that my spotting is quite possibly Pandercetes and it will be documented eventually. Here are some spottings from Sabah, Indonesia and Sarawak: https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/14... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/12... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/46...