Rare species of spider found
Posted on: 11/May/2013 3:16:17 PM
Doctorate student John Caleb T.D. has stumbled upon a species of spider that has not been seen in over a hundred years. John, who is part of the Zoology Department at the Madras Christian College, has found a spider that looks like a cross between a spider and a large ant.
‘I have been scouring this huge campus’ jungle since 2010 as my thesis involves a spider
diversity study inside the campus. I was returning from inside the scrub when I spotted a line of ants carrying something that looked like a large ant - but with eight legs. When (I) looked closer, (I) realized that it was a very different kind of spider from the common sort (I) had been spotting and so shooed the ants away and picked up the dead male and preserved it. This was last October and was behind the MCC Farm. Just as all hope of building on the discovery by finding a live specimen had all but run dry, (I) had a stroke of luck. (I) was chipping away at some bark, a few steps away from the Zoology department (almost a kilometre away from the other spot) when (I) spotted a hale, hearty and extremely sprightly female ant-mimicking spider. I was very surprised and collected it immediately. It was an exciting find’, said Caleb.
