This is something cool I encountered today while taking a walk in a nearby park. And it's also a relatively rare sight, this is only the third time time in my life span to have witnessed it!
You may know ladybugs... But have you ever seen a ladybug spider? 😄🙃
What you see above is a male spider of the Eresus genus. Dunno the exact species, maybe Eresus kollari or Eresus sandaliatus. They both look very similar 😄
The species is sexual dimorphic, with females being completely black or brown.
Although these spiders are really common, spotting a male in real life is a really rare sight.
That's because they spent most of their life underground, only coming on the surface for a few days once a year sometime in Spring to mate!
I still remember the first time I saw one about 15 years ago! I had never heard of the species before and I thought I had stumbled upon some super rare or possibly unknown species, lmao 😂
Now, what made today's encounter super special is that soon after noticing this spider I saw that a male competitor was in close proximity! T
And it wasn't long before the two had a stand off..
No blood was shed though and they both retreated after a while. Maybe they greeted each other? Or both chickened out.
Who knows 😄
Anyways, it was a fun sighting. Unfortunately I only had my cheap back up phone with me (moto g24) and the photos didn't come as good as I'd like. Still I think it pulled a decent job :)
Anyways, here's a link to wiki if you'd like to read more on these spiders, enjoy!
