Phrynarachne ceylonica

Bird dung spider
	Female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Thomisidae
Genus:	Phrynarachne
Species:	P. ceylonica
Binomial name
	Phrynarachne ceylonica; (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1884)
Synonyms
	Ornithoscatoides ceylonica O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1884;

Phrynarachne ceylonica, the bird dung spider, is a species of spiders of the genus Phrynarachne. It is found in China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and India.^[1] The species is known to discharge a foul smell which help it attract prey and deter predators.^[2] It both smells like and resembles bird feces, hence the name 'bird dung spider'. The bird dung spider resembles bird feces only when it curls up in response to a predatory threat. It is characteristically known for its dual-purposed ability to mimic the smell and appearance of bird feces to both lure prey and protect against predators.^[3] This species of crab spider has a flat, black-brown abdomen with bright yellow legs.^[4] The width of the female abdomen is approximately 9.3 mm and the length of the body is approximately 14.50 mm^[5]

Male
Female with eggsac

References[]

^ "Phrynarachne ceylonica (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1884)". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
^ Agata, Blaszczak-Boxe (2 September 2015). "Zoologger: A spider that looks and smells like bird droppings". New Scientist. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
^ "Masquerading predators deceive prey by aggressively mimicking bird droppings in a crab spider". 2021. doi:10.1093/cz/zoab060. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
^ "Notes on the presences of Phrynarachne ceylonica (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1884) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands". World News of Natural Sciences. 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
^ "Notes on the presences of Phrynarachne ceylonica (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1884) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands". World News of Natural Sciences. 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.

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[1] "Phrynarachne ceylonica (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1884)". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 23 May 2016.

[2] Agata, Blaszczak-Boxe (2 September 2015). "Zoologger: A spider that looks and smells like bird droppings". New Scientist. Retrieved 23 May 2016.

[3] "Masquerading predators deceive prey by aggressively mimicking bird droppings in a crab spider". 2021. doi:10.1093/cz/zoab060. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)

[4] "Notes on the presences of Phrynarachne ceylonica (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1884) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands". World News of Natural Sciences. 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.

[5] "Notes on the presences of Phrynarachne ceylonica (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1884) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands". World News of Natural Sciences. 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.

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