The Happy Face is a species of spider endemic to only a few islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. Certain morphs of these spiders have a pattern that resembles a smiley face or a grinning face of a clown on their abdomen. Interestingly, each spider has a unique pattern, with the patterns differing from island to island. However, some specimens lack markings altogether. Some authorities think that their bright patterns may be an adaptation to keep them from being eaten by birds. Their population is rapidly decreasing, which might lead them to become endangered.
Size: Up to 5 mm (0.20 in) in length
Color: The entire body is pale to bright yellow in color with the characteristic red smiling marks in the middle of the body, and two pairs of dots just below it that resemble two eyes with eyebrows.
Other Characteristic Features: The male Hawaiian happy face spiders leave their webs and roam around in the forest in search of a female spider for reproduction. Once found, it performs a courtship and indulges in mating, after which they die soon.
By evolution, their legs are somewhat translucent and are quite long. Both these features help them remain attached to the base of the leaves almost invisible.
The females lay up to 250 eggs at a time, after which, it places them in silk brown-toned egg sacs and sticks them to the web. The female spider guards and protects the eggs from predators until the babies hatch out.
The mother spider catches prey for its young ones. The eggs go through all the stages of the larval life before they eventually hatch out as baby spiders. Like most of the other species, they resemble smaller versions of the adults when they first come out of the eggs and live on insects that are caught in the web. The juveniles keep shedding their exoskeletons in their process of growing quite a few times throughout their life.
The Hawaiian happy-faced spiders are highly derived members of the Cobweb Spiders group but do not share the venom toxicity of their much-feared relatives. The Hawaiian happy face spider is not poisonous to humans, nor is it prone to bite.
| Other Names | Hawaiian happy-face spider, nananana makakiʻi (Hawaiian name, meaning ‘face-patterned spider’) |
| Lifespan | Males die soon after mating, but females live longer |
| Distribution | Only found on four of the Hawaiian islands, viz. Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii. |
| Habitat | Rainforest areas |
| Common predators | Island birds are their primary enemies |
| Diet | Any small insect that it encounters |
Image Credits: Live.staticflickr.com, D36tnp772eyphs.cloudfront.net, Imgc.allpostersimages.com, Footage.framepool.com, veresan.com,
Farm9.staticflickr.com, Static1.squarespace.com, Footage.framepool.com
The Happy Face is a species of spider endemic to only a few islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. Certain morphs of these spiders have a pattern that resembles a smiley face or a grinning face of a clown on their abdomen. Interestingly, each spider has a unique pattern, with the patterns differing from island to island. However, some specimens lack markings altogether. Some authorities think that their bright patterns may be an adaptation to keep them from being eaten by birds. Their population is rapidly decreasing, which might lead them to become endangered.
Size: Up to 5 mm (0.20 in) in length
Color: The entire body is pale to bright yellow in color with the characteristic red smiling marks in the middle of the body, and two pairs of dots just below it that resemble two eyes with eyebrows.
Other Characteristic Features: The male Hawaiian happy face spiders leave their webs and roam around in the forest in search of a female spider for reproduction. Once found, it performs a courtship and indulges in mating, after which they die soon.
By evolution, their legs are somewhat translucent and are quite long. Both these features help them remain attached to the base of the leaves almost invisible.
The females lay up to 250 eggs at a time, after which, it places them in silk brown-toned egg sacs and sticks them to the web. The female spider guards and protects the eggs from predators until the babies hatch out.
The mother spider catches prey for its young ones. The eggs go through all the stages of the larval life before they eventually hatch out as baby spiders. Like most of the other species, they resemble smaller versions of the adults when they first come out of the eggs and live on insects that are caught in the web. The juveniles keep shedding their exoskeletons in their process of growing quite a few times throughout their life.
The Hawaiian happy-faced spiders are highly derived members of the Cobweb Spiders group but do not share the venom toxicity of their much-feared relatives. The Hawaiian happy face spider is not poisonous to humans, nor is it prone to bite.
| Other Names | Hawaiian happy-face spider, nananana makakiʻi (Hawaiian name, meaning ‘face-patterned spider’) |
| Lifespan | Males die soon after mating, but females live longer |
| Distribution | Only found on four of the Hawaiian islands, viz. Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii. |
| Habitat | Rainforest areas |
| Common predators | Island birds are their primary enemies |
| Diet | Any small insect that it encounters |
Image Credits: Live.staticflickr.com, D36tnp772eyphs.cloudfront.net, Imgc.allpostersimages.com, Footage.framepool.com, veresan.com,
Farm9.staticflickr.com, Static1.squarespace.com, Footage.framepool.com
