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Sorting Hat Spider

rare

Sorting Hat Spider

Eriovixia gryffindori

Habitat: Leaf litter in evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, India
Body length: 7 mm
Order: Araneae · Araneidae

Weird but real

Its cone-shaped abdomen looks so much like Hogwarts' Sorting Hat that scientists named it after Godric Gryffindor.

Why it's cool

A tiny orb-weaver that hides among dead leaves by looking like a magical crumpled hat, then tucks itself still by day.

Photographs

Sorting Hat Spider (Eriovixia gryffindori) in India — Prashantha Krishna M C · CC BY 4.0 · source

The Sorting Hat Spider (Eriovixia gryffindori) with a hoverfly prey. Taken in Vaccine Depot, Belgaum city, Karnataka, India — Sarusscape · CC BY 4.0 · source