Bird Dropping Spider

Facts about Bird Dropping Spiders, "Scientific name for Bird Dropping Spider is Celaenia excavata". What could be the spider that resembles a bird dropping, and whose eggs are more or less the same like a bunch of grapes? Well, for those who are keen-eyed, there is an enchanting surprise that awaits you in your garden: the spider that many people refer to it as Bird dropping Spider.

During most hours of the day, the female Bird dropping spider assumes a sitting position, lying motionless with its legs drawn against its body. In fact, it is this behavior combined with their black and white coloring and humped abdomen, that make these creatures look like bird droppings.

This is a fantastic survival mechanism because, in reality, no one would ever want to eat a bird poo. Since the Bird dropping spider does not move nor sheds away its cover, it does not draw the attention of predators. What is more perplexing is that, unlike other species of spiders, the male spider is much smaller than the female.

What is more? The hunting behavior of Bird-dropping spider is just fascinating as its appearance. These species have a tendency of releasing a smell that has some similarities with the sex pheromone that female moths often release to attract males. Whenever a male moth flies in to investigate, hoping to mate, the Bird-dropping spider grabs it.

Another compelling characteristic of this spider species is its egg sacs. Normally, Bird dropping Spiders have the ability of producing up to a maximum of 13-egg cases. These eggs have black markings and are dark brown.

When they become suspended in the web, the eggs resemble a bunch of dark grapes. The females have a responsibility of looking after the egg cases until that point where the young ones emerge, which is usually between late winters to early spring.

Spiders belong to a group of animals called "arachnids", mites and Scorpions and a tick is also in the arachnid family. An Arachnids is a creature with eight legs, two body parts, no antennae or wings and are not able to chew on food. Spiders are not insects because insects have three main body parts and six legs and most insects have wings.

The Arachnids are even in a larger group of animals called "arthropods" an invertebrate animal of the large phylum Arthropoda, which also include spiders, crustaceans and insects. They are the largest group in the animal world, about 80% of all animals come from this group. There are over a million different species. There are more than 40,000 different types of spiders in the world.

Bird Dropping Spiders have oversize brains.
In the Bird Dropping Spider the oxygen is bound to "hemocyanin" a copper-based protein that turns their blood blue, a molecule that contains copper rather than iron. Iron-based hemoglobin in red blood cells turns the blood red

Bird Dropping Spiders have two body parts, the front part of the body is called the Cephalothorax-(the thorax and fused head of spiders). Also on this part of the body is the Bird Dropping Spider’s gland that makes the poison and the stomach, fangs, mouth, legs, eyes and brain. Bird Dropping Spiders also have these tiny little leg-type things called (pedipalps) that are next to the fangs. They are used to hold food while the spider bites it. The next part of the spiders body is the abdomen and the abdomens back end is where there is the spinnerets and where the silk producing glands are located.

The muscles in a Bird Dropping Spiders legs pull them inward, but the spider can't extend its legs outward. It will pump a watery liquid into its legs that pushes them out. A Bird Dropping Spider’s legs and body are covered with lots of hair and these hairs are water-repellent, which trap a thin layer of air around the body so the spiders body doesn't get wet. It allows them to float, this is how some spiders can survive under water for hours. A Bird Dropping Spider feels its prey with chemo sensitive hairs on its legs and than feels if the prey is edible. The leg hair picks up smells and vibrations from the air. There are at minimum, two small claws that are at the end of the legs. Each Bird Dropping Spiders leg has six joints, giving the spider 48 leg joints. The spider’s body has oil on it, so the spider doesn't stick to it’s own web.

A Bird Dropping Spiders stomach can only take liquids, so a spider needs to liquefy their food before they eat. They bite on their prey and empty its stomach liquids into the pray which turns it into a soup for them to drink.

A male Bird Dropping Spider has two appendages called "pedipalps" a sensory organ, instead of a penis, which is filled with sperm and insert by the male into the female Bird Dropping Spider’s reproductive opening.

While the Bird-dropping spiders are hardly seen, there is a likelihood that they are common. Their brilliant camouflage makes sure that people do not often notice them. The Bird Dropping Spider are certainly one of the best species to have around, in spite of them catching many moths.