Sumatra Biodiversity: Cyrtarache gibbifera and Lehtinelagia prasina

I have encountered many things with the hobby of macro photography, and I have gained a lot of knowledge from that. I feel lucky to live in a tropical country that is rich in flora and fauna like Indonesia. Sumatra, the island I live on, has given me many opportunities to uncover the hidden secrets of its fantastic natural riches.

With simple photography equipment, I can capture interesting insects, beautiful and sometimes strange arthropods, and anything interesting. It was a fun thing, and I enjoyed that. I just want to learn about nature, admire it, and try to care for it.

I have encountered many species of spiders, know them one by one, and want to be their friend whenever possible. Yes, I don't want to hurt them even a little or take away their right to life.

This one is the first time I've seen it. I was fooled and hastily concluded that it was a tree snail. Only then did I realize what I saw was not a tree snail but a spider. Yeah, the snail-mimicking spider.

The shape is really strange; the big abdomen is shaped like a heart, oily and shiny, and there are two markings like eyes on its back. So similar to the face of the alien depicted today.

The identification results show that the spider belongs to the genus Cyrtarache, or more specifically, Cyrtarache gibbifera (Simon, 1899), which is found in Sumatra, Indonesia. It's just that I don't have an idea whether it's male or female. Maybe next time, we will find out more.

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Far away in another place, I found this little girl: Lehtinelagia prasina (L. Koch, 1876), commonly called the leek-green flower spider. The little girl had a very perfect disguise. But I'm a spider hunter, and she can't escape my eyes.

The faded green abdomen seems to blend with the laban flower petals, and her head and legs are bright green. It takes sharp and deft eyes to find this little girl.

I noticed she was a poor little girl. She lost some of her legs. Perhaps she has been through a fierce battle with a spider or other predator. Thankfully, she was fine and still nimble with her remaining legs.

She may look weak but don't forget that she still has a reliable weapon, like other spiders. The sharp jaws were still a deadly weapon.

The jaws were still sharp enough to tear apart a grasshopper that was much bigger than the spider. I don't doubt her abilities. Because she is still a fierce predator!

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^{All of the images here are my work, taken with a Xiaomi POCO NFC smartphone and an assembled external macro lens.}