The Happy Face spider has a special design that looks like a smiley face on its belly! It lives on a few islands in Hawaii, and each spider has its own unique pattern. Sometimes, these patterns even change from one island to another. Some don’t have any marks at all! People believe the bright designs might help them stay safe from birds. But, these spiders are becoming less common and might need some help 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, they place them in silk brown-toned egg sacs and stick them to the web. The female spider guards and protects the eggs from predators until the babies hatch.
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.
Like other cobweb spiders, Happy Face spiders also have venom. But they use it mainly to catch tiny bugs. It’s not strong enough to bother people.
They can bite if they feel cornered. The bite might feel like a small pinch, but it’s usually not a problem for most folks.
| 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 spider has a special design that looks like a smiley face on its belly! It lives on a few islands in Hawaii, and each spider has its own unique pattern. Sometimes, these patterns even change from one island to another. Some don’t have any marks at all! People believe the bright designs might help them stay safe from birds. But, these spiders are becoming less common and might need some help 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, they place them in silk brown-toned egg sacs and stick them to the web. The female spider guards and protects the eggs from predators until the babies hatch.
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.
Like other cobweb spiders, Happy Face spiders also have venom. But they use it mainly to catch tiny bugs. It’s not strong enough to bother people.
They can bite if they feel cornered. The bite might feel like a small pinch, but it’s usually not a problem for most folks.
| 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
Roy Williams on April 30, 2019.
Dr. Watuwa James
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