A happy face spider is the perfect example of “not spiders are scary”, the appearance says it all. The look of this spider alone makes many people want to learn more about it, and we are here just for that today. There are actually many fascinating things about happy face spiders, so let’s find out together below.
1Appearance
A happy face spider is a tiny arachnid with a size of just 5 millimeters but usually smaller. Its tiny body is often translucent yellow in color, and it has long and slender legs. The most distinctive feature of this spider species is that some morphs have a pattern that resembles a smiley face; hence the name. Speaking of names, their Hawaiian name is “nananana makaki’i” which literally means “face-patterned spider”. This unique mark is a way to confuse predators from seeing them as prey.
One of the most interesting things on top of their appearance is the fact that their diet affects their color. Feeding on various food items can temporarily change the color of the spider’s abdomen; hence, different color variations that you see. The abdominal color of the happy face spiders can be anywhere from translucent yellow to green or orange. Not all happy face spider species have the patterns, the most common color which is plain yellow has no smile. For those who do, each of them has a unique pattern of their own.
2Behavior
Looking good is one thing, but personality is another noticeable thing that the happy face spiders have. A mother happy face spider will guard her eggs until they hatch. Then, she will actively care for her young the moment they hatch from the egg sac. She catches prey items for the spiderlings to eat, and there are very few spider species that do that. This can go on for weeks until the spiderlings can catch their own food. When that time comes, the young spiders will leave their mother to search for a new leaf of their own. The fascinating thing is that if a mother happy face spider dies, the spiderlings may depart the leaf and try to find a new mother nearby.
3Feeding & Habitats
Happy face spiders do not spin webs to capture prey, they forage for insects in nearby leaves. However, they use their silk during prey capture, and their most favorite meals are flies, especially fruit flies. Endemic to the Hawaiian archipelago, these smiley arachnids inhabit mesic and wet environments in the forests of 4 Hawaiian islands. You can only find them in Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, and Oahu. Coming across one is not so common because they are too tiny to spot and they normally reside on the underside of plant leaves.
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