Meet the First Cladomelea debeeri Bolas Spider Posted to iNat! - Observation of the Day, 11/9/21

Our Observation of the Week is the first Cladomelea debeeri Bolas Spider posted to iNat! Seen in South Africa by @suncana.

Born in Croatia, Suncana Bradley says she’s always appreciated nature, “but moving from Croatia to South Africa about a decade ago opened up my eyes. The incredible biodiversity of the subtropical climate was the perfect motivation to start exploring and learning. I very quickly went from a casual appreciator to a keen naturalist.” She’s particularly into photographing insects (especially caterpillars) and is a member of the Caterpillar Rearing Group Africa, a group dedicated to learning the life histories of African Lepidoptera.

And it was while out looking for caterpillars that Suncana spotted the spider you see photographed here. “Finding [Cladomelea debeeri] was pure luck,” she tells me.

I was out in the bush in the early evening looking for caterpillars when I came across this odd looking spider. It was unlike anything I've ever seen, so I immediately posted the photographs on our local spider group. She was very quickly identified by a bunch of very excited spider experts, and a couple days later visited by John Roff who described the species in 2004. She is the first record of a sub-adult female, and we are hoping a male will come once she is mature. A male of the species has never been seen, so we are all quite excited. The species conservation status is currently vulnerable due to its limited range, so this is indeed a very special find.

Bolas spiders are so named for their hunting method. Rather than construct a web for trapping prey they use their legs to spin a piece of silk with a globule of sticky liquid on it (see above), similar to the bolas made famous by South American gauchos. Remarkably, they emit moth sex pheremones to lure male moths within striking distance. As Suncana said, this species was described in 2004 by John Roff and Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman. Roff’s friend Len de Beer assisted in the collection of the type specimen, hence the spider’s scientific name.

Suncana (above) uses iNat for her research and conservation efforts (she finds it especally valuable for getting her caterpillar’s host plants identified) and it provides a way for she and others to present the diversity and value of green spaces.

To me iNaturalist is more than that, though. It's an incredible fountain of collective knowledge that I have not come across anywhere else. I always naively thought that we know everything there is to know, what with it being the 21st century and all. This platform and its users have shown me that there is in fact more that we don't know, which just made me more passionate about learning and discovery. There is always something new and exciting to discover (my Bolas being the perfect example), so I keep striving for more. Exploring Africa wouldn't be half as fun without iNat.

- Not only did she take stills, but here’s Suncana’s footage of Cladomelea debeeri swinging her bolas.

- Suncana talks about her caterpillar rearing passion in this short video.

- Sir David Attenborough and team have some nice footage of a bolas spider catching prey.

Posted on November 9, 2021 09:41 PM by