Tigers of the Undergrowth
“There is no ruckus of langurs, no cacophony of birds, and no trace of the hunt that just took place. The sal trees stand silent, the first rays of the sun now making their way through a crack in the canopy. Standing here, and looking all around, I can see at least seven large orb-webs of the giant wood spider spanning from tree to tree, their anchor-threads that work like beams of a building stretching as long as four metres in length. On shrubs closer to the ground, the web of an orchard spider catches the early sunlight, splitting it in the hues of a rainbow as it dances in the morning breeze. A two-tailed spider, the tree-bark hunter, waits patiently for a passing ant, its excellent camouflage hiding it from prying eyes. In this land of the tiger, another supreme predator has claimed its own niche, and is very much the tiger of the undergrowth – the spider.” A male Plexippus paykulii explores a moss forest - a microhabitat reminiscent of Kanha's magnificent Sal forests ...