Telamonia dimidiata - The Spider that fuelled a hoax

It was pleasantly surprising to know that a spider I recently photographed in school was once famous for being associated with an email hoax in 1999. The email claimed that it was a fatal spider found lurking under toilet seats in North Florida! The story gained traction as time passed with many anxious people literally on the edge of their seats.

A very shy spider, indeed!

Fortunately, these stories are fabricated and the two-striped spider isn't dangerous to humans at all. When I tried to photograph it, it seemed to be a shy creature that tried to avoid the lens of my camera. It kept hiding from me by getting below the leaf and when I looked below, it would step onto the top of the leaf. This went on for some time until fed up with my stubbornness it leapt away.

I am sharing photographs that I took of the male Telemonia dimidiata. The male is darker than its female counterpart. The female is light yellowish in colour with red rings surrounding its eyes while the male, as you can see has red hair around its eyes and part of the head too! This spider is also native to India.