7mm (body) | July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
One of my brother-in-laws offered to drop me off for a few hours in a forested area on one of his farms. I was thrilled, but perhaps a bit anxious when he offered me a revolver in case I encountered a jaguar. I turned down the gun and if there was a jaguar in the area I never saw it.
The first critter I found was this odd looking spider. I spotted it while breaking up a rotting log. It’s quite flat, evolved no doubt for squeezing into tight spaces. I wanted to grab it for a closer look, but it managed to fall into the leaf litter and escape.
It’s difficult to make out details like the number and arrangement of the eyes. Maybe something in the family Thomisidae?
Eric Eaton suggests this might be a “flattie” in the family Selenopidae.
Seems a very primitive spider as it has apparently a segmented abdomen (that happens only in Liphistiidae afaik). Selenopidae is really a good choice! 🙂
Jorge Almeida
Viseu – PORTUGAL
Thanks for the tip, Jorge.
I am really learning a LOT here! It looks kind of like a engorged dog tick.
Jeremy Miller suggests Trochanteriidae.