Don’t look at me. I am a totally uninteresting bit of dead plant …
… a seed pod maybe? Okay, it’s a bit odd that I’m stuck to the underside of a leaf, but if I was alive I would surely have moved when you turned the leaf upside down …
… and flashed bright lights at me. But I didn’t move, did I? So I can’t be alive. Maybe I’m a broken bit of twig. You can’t see those little sparkly spots that are actually my eyes, either – can you? But I wish you you would stop twisting the leaf around …
Oops! I think that was a bit of a giveaway, going up on tip-toe like that. And now you have poked me with your huge finger – it must be time to bail out …
Right, I’m on the ground. And I match it so well you can’t see me unless I move, so I’m not going to move. In fact, you will forget that I’m even here.
What? Lights again? You haven’t forgotten? Okay – absolute last resort – dash for cover …
Now that I am safe, I can admit that, yes, I am a spider of course. People call me a Twig Spider, Plotys species (though even the experts aren’t sure which species). I make an orb web at night and pull it down again each morning, spending the day (well, most days) sleeping peacefully out of sight and out of mind. That’s the way I like it. Today was not a good day. Today was scary.