First incidental observation
During a bird point count in the morning, we saw how a spider
(Olios sp., Sparassidae) caught an amphibian
(Heterixalus andrakata , Hyperoliidae) on the leaves ofTambourissa sp. The spider held on the head of the amphibian with
the fangs. The amphibian posterior legs were above the back of the
spider while the head was down. The amphibian did not move anymore, so
it seemed already killed. When we approached the scene, the spider with
prey went hiding between two leaves of Tambourisa sp. We took
photos (Fig. 2 C) and left the predation event. The tree leaves measure
circa 26 cm in length and circa 9 cm in width at the widest point. The
height of the leaves from the ground was around 120 cm.
In the afternoon (16:15 of the same day), we came back to the same place
and the spider was still at the same place (hiding between the leaves).
We collected the specimen (Fig. 2 A) but could not find the frog prey
anymore. Around the tree, within a 2 m radius, we found four other
living individuals of Heterixalus andrakata . The two tree leaves
were woven together by the spider using silk, i.e. the two leaves were
pulled close to each other, closing roughly two thirds of the leaf
edges.