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Gelotia lanka
Gelotia lanka is a species of spider of the genus Gelotia. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. Their hunting mechanism is somewhat different from most salticids, where G. lanka tends to lunge at prey from close range rather than leap from far range. They are also known to attack webs of other spiders with the mimicry signals by making specialised vibratory signals. Finally, the resident spider is killed and consumed. Therefore, they are not web makers...
From the article Gelotia lanka on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
What it does
G. lanka normally moves by steadily stepping forward, pausing and then continuing again, accompanied by palp and leg waving. They can leap over obstacles, but normally choose to walk around them instead. This spider has no trouble walking on any kind of web or silk, not adhering either to cribellate or ecribellate types of spider silk. Their hunting mechanism is, like most spartaeines, somewhat different from most salticids, where G. lanka tends to lunge at prey from close range rather than leap from far range. They will also invade the webs of other spiders to feed on them. By plucking upon the webs of other spiders(usually using their palps but occasionally their front legs as well) and making specialized vibratory signals, Gelotia lanka tries out different manners of plucking. When a method which works is found, the spider reuses it and lures the host spider over to the Gelotia. Finally, the resident spider is killed and consumed. They do not spin webs, though they do hang up dead leaves in the webs of other spiders on which to rest and oviposit. This spider will also hunt cursorial spiders and insects, attacking them via close-range lunging.
Wikipedia: “Behavior”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Gelotia lanka in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 795790.