Creature Feature #579: Pelican Spider

I recentlystumbled upon this arachnid whilst researching something else entirely and couldn't believe it existed and that I've never heard of it! I mean, a spider with a neck???!!! And that's ignoring the long jaws. But real it is, indeed. And, I suppose if you can get weird looking insects, weird looking arachnids are not entirely out of the question.

The Pelican Spider is named such for its completely superficial resemblance to the water bird. She is also sometimes known as the Assassin Spider because her favoured prey is spiders. She does not build a web, using her silk mainly to help manouvere. No larger than a grain of rice, her elongated jaws allow her to impale her prey and inject it with venom, whilst holding it far enough away that it cannot harm her.

Firstly, the Spider uses her short front legs like antennae, to detect a spider web. Once located, she begins to move slowly across the web, so slowly that the resident spider feels no impending sense of doom, but may venture over to investigate the slight plucking. Then, she strikes, her jaws impale and the prey is poisoned. Once movement has ceased, she lowers it to her mouth - which is situated at the base of her neck.

There are 25 species found in Australia, South Africa and Madagascar.