I was in Kolkata for a fortnight. But as it was a business trip, spider hunting was limited to weekends . Total field time consisted of : 3 morning walks around my guest house (in Newtown) averaging 2 hrs each, a day trip to Chintamani Kar Bird sanctuary (CKBS) and another day trip to Acharya Jagadish Botanical Garden . Last walk around Rajarhat swamps yielded only a Misumena /Misumenops.
I mainly documented species that are elusive/not found in my home region. So several other species were encountered that I didn't bother documenting.
Family: Araneidae
Araneus mitificus
Nest of Araneus mitificus between leaf folds
Araneus cf.viridisomus , a relatively large araneid
Probably an Araneus sp. It was a large Araneid spider found resting inside a curled , dry leaf on its web.
An amazing bird dropping mimicing spider, its a very rare and elusive record for Kolkata.
Cyrtarachne sp.
Perhaps the most stunning and unexpected find from my 15 days in Kolkata is this Poltys sp. The epic epitome of camouflage, the spider resembles a piece of dry bark right down to its colouration,texture, cracks,patterns and broken outline structure. No amount of poking and disturbance that can be possibly meted out without harming the spider could bring it to open its tightly closed legs. The reliance and confidence it has on its camo is amazing. The most outstanding thing is the thorn like structure projecting on the dorsum.
Poltys sp.
Front view: Rear view: Side view: Top view: Eriovixia sp1 Eriovixia sp2
Cyclosa sp.

Neoscona sp1 A very large, well camouflaged Neoscona



Argiope anasuja

Family: Sparassidae
Olios sp1


Olios sp2


Probably some Olios


Gnathopalystes sp.




Family Thomisidae
Thomisus sp.



Misumena/Misumenops sp.


Amyciaea sp. Notice the false eyes on the abdomen of this amazing ant mimic crab spider !



Tmarus sp.


Indoxysticus sp.

Camaricus sp.

Family Tetragnathidae
Ariamnes sp.



Tylorida sp.

Family Theridiidae
Chrysso sp.

Probably some species of Chrysso/Theridula


Steatoda/Parasteatoda sp.

Steatoda/Parasteatoda sp. with youngs in nest.


Phoroncidia cf. septemaculeata





Family Oxyopidae
Oxyopes sp. feeding on a Leucage decorata (Tetragnathidae)

Peucetia sp.




This Green Lynx spider (Peucetia) is photographed in-situ ie. on the exact spot and plant it was found on , without any handling. The camouflage is insane, with the purple stripe on ventral of the spider matching exactly with that of the plant stems.

Hamataliwa sp.



Family Uloboridae
Uloborus sp.


Family Salticidae
Thiania bhamoensis , with stunning metallic glitter






Asemonea tenuipes



Thyene bivittata



Phintella versicolor


Myrmarachne sp1, Ant mimic jumping spider



Myrmarachne sp2, though it can also be probably some completely different/undescribed genus


I missed out on several target Salticid species including Siler, Chrysilla, Zebraplatys, Epeus, Portia and Rhene. Maybe the season was not the best for jumping spider activity, though I found dozens of Thiania at CKBS. Another reason to visit Kolkata in the near future, maybe !
Cheers !
Mirza
At Acharya Jagadish Botanical Garden
