Cyclosa Menge, 1866 (Araneidae) Orb‐Weavers Build Stabilimenta That Resemble Larger Spiders

Orb‐weaving spiders are known to create stabilimenta—silk situated at particular locations of the web. While anecdotal reports and popular media have long suggested that some spiders arrange debris in their webs to resemble a larger spider, this behavior has not been formally documented in the scientific literature. Here, we provide the first scientific record of this unique behavior in two orb‐weaving spiders ( Cyclosa spp., Araneidae) from the tropical forests of Peru and the Philippines. We report that these spiders construct stabilimenta composed of detritus and silk, arranging the debris in the web into a shape that visually resembles the silhouette of a larger spider. This structure may serve as a “decoy” that serves an anti‐predator function of misdirecting or repelling the attacks of some predators. Video abstract: https://youtu.be/GDySHFRXbCE .