Rare Chrysilla volupe spiders discovered at Puttenahalli lake

July 22, 2021 03:02 am | Updated 03:02 am IST - Bengaluru

A Chrysilla volupe male spider perched on garden lizard.

A Chrysilla volupe male spider perched on garden lizard.

A pair of Chrysilla volupe spiders, a rare species, was recently spotted at Puttenahalli lake by photographer Satish Chandra Karanth. The discovery has residents, members of the Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT), and wildlife enthusiasts ecstatic. The Chrysilla volupe was believed to be extinct for 150 years, until it was discovered at the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) in 2018.

Mr. Karanth, who is a regular visitor to the lake, expressed his surprise when he spotted the spider. In a release by PNLIT, he said, “While I was trying portrait shots of a garden lizard in our Puttenahalli lake bed last week, this colourful rare spider popped up on its head.”

The spider belongs to the family of jumping spiders (Salticidae) and scientifically named Chrysilla volupe. Male spiders are 5.44 mm long including stretched legs and 1.76 mm wide. They have a carapace in reddish orange colour with two iridescent blue stripes, stated PNLIT in the release.

Females measure 2.61 mm long and 0.88 mm wide, and have a greyish carapace with grey eyebrows with all legs yellow in colour.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.