"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper." – W B Yeats.
What does a spider species in the Western Ghats have in common with wizards? A magical hat. In the popular Harry Potter fiction series hopeful young wizards who join the fabled school ceremoniously put on a “sorting hat” that belongs to one of the school's founders, Godric Gryffindor. In the forests of the Western Ghats lives a tiny orb-weaving spider whose abdomen looks remarkably similar to the pointy sorting hat described in these books. The spider's ample abdomen is conical, and its tip curves much like the curved tip of the pointy sorting hat. The near uncanny resemblance inspired the team that discovered the spider to name it after its fictional pop-culture doppelganger — the sorting hat spider (Eriovixia gryffindori scientifically).
Cover photo: An Eriovixia gryffindori female sits in a cryptic pose that makes her look less like a spider and more like a small, dried vegetation on a leaf. At less than 1 cm long, these tiny spiders can easily go unnoticed. Photo: Abhijith APC
Art of symmetry
The genus Eriovixia belongs to the orb-weaver family of spiders (Araneidae). Spiders of this family (excluding some genera like tent-web spiders) weave the popularly shown radially symmetric orb-webs with concentric circles of silk — i.e., the web on Spiderman's suit. Web symmetry is a purposeful art. Near-perfect symmetry means the impact of large prey falling onto the web is evenly distributed across the web, minimizing damage to the web. The two-dimensional geometric trap is dotted with droplets of glue to catch insects that are unfortunate enough to fly into it. When an unsuspecting insect lands on the web, the spider senses the vibration and rushes quickly towards its potential prey. The vibrations created by the entangled entity can tell the spider all about the object on the web — its size, feistiness and other features that guide the spider to run towards or away from it. Orb-weavers like E. gryffindori intuitively miss the glue droplets and move effortlessly on their web.
Venom shots
To me, a spider's web feels like an extension of its being. When the spider reaches its potential meal, it subdues the insect with a quick shot of venom. The strong web and appropriately potent venom are essential for the tiny spider trying to hunt prey that can often be a few times larger than itself. Eriovixia gryffindori are roughly 6 mm in length. While the generously sized sorting hat from Harry Potter was often too big for a child's head, the sorting hat spider can comfortably fit on the fingertip of a young child. As with nearly every other spider in India, E. gryffindori’s venom only packs enough punch to incapacitate small animals like insects and pose no threat to humans.
Camouflage by day
Like other orb-weavers from the Araneidae family, the nocturnal E. gryffindori build their webs every night and devour them before dawn. This adaptation allows them to catch flying insects at night but not be on display for predators like wasps and birds during the day. However, inconspicuousness comes at a cost. As a web builder, these spiders move efficiently on silk lines but laboriously on other surfaces. They must balance the need to be invisible to predators while giving up their agile motion on the web. Their strategy to crack this conundrum is as magical as the inspiration for their name. The spider disappears in plain sight. E. gryffindori are covered with muted colours and geometric patterns that allow them to merge seamlessly with dried leaves and twigs. They assume cryptic positions during the day to look like an extension of the surface on which they sit.
Since their discovery in the Kans region of Shivamoga, Karnataka, more naturalists and enthusiasts have spotted the spider in other parts of the Western Ghats and the Mysuru region. iNaturalist even has one reliable observation of the species from Assam. Finding a spider about half a centimetre long that deliberately resembles dried leaves is no easy task. The three researchers behind the discovery and the naturalists that spot this remarkable spider spend enough time in nature with their senses sharpened to see the little things. In the natural world, the magic is often in the little things.
About the author
Samuel John
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