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.”
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| A male Plexippus paykulii explores a moss forest - a microhabitat reminiscent of Kanha's magnificent Sal forests |
Studying the diversity of spiders of Kanha Tiger Reserve –
the essence of Central Indian Highlands – was enlightening. I contributed an
article in Sanctuary Asia’s August edition as an ode to this group of organism
that everyone loves to hate – by drawing parallels between the tiger and the spider – both sharing astonishing
similarities albeit their vast differences.
A detailed research paper on the same topic can be downloaded here.
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