Known from the Andasibe–Mantadia area of eastern Madagascar.
Fine-art photographic collection
Caerostris kuntneri
A bark spider whose adult females alone manufacture exceptionally tough silk.
About this species
Caerostris kuntneriGregorič & Yu, 2025
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Caerostris kuntneri is a Madagascan bark spider recognised through modern taxonomic and material research. Its silk changes dramatically with sex and maturity rather than remaining mechanically constant throughout life.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Arachnida · Araneae · Araneidae · Caerostris
Accepted species described in 2025 from Madagascar. · checked 2026-07-15
Eastern MadagascarBroad documented range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
What makes this species remarkable?
Experiments found that exceptionally tough major-ampullate silk is produced by large adult females, not by juveniles or males of the same species.
The adult female’s silk combines higher initial stiffness with exceptional energy absorption, fitting the demands of a large sparse capture web.
The tiny male and giant female represent extreme sexual size dimorphism, so two adults sharing a web can look unrelated in scale.