eastern rainforest of Madagascar
Fine-art photographic collection
Eriauchenus workmani
A long-necked spider assassin that holds dangerous prey at arm’s length.
About this species
Eriauchenus workmani(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1881)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Eriauchenus workmani is a Madagascan pelican spider specialised for hunting other spiders. It follows silk lines through the forest at night and uses its bizarrely elongated head and jaws as a built-in safety device.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Araneae · Archaeidae · Eriauchenus
Accepted spelling Eriauchenus workmani; Eriauchenius is an historical misspelling. · checked 2026-07-15
eastern rainforest of MadagascarBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Humid leaf litter and low vegetation in eastern Malagasy rainforest.
Cryptic predator moving through litter and vegetation.
Other spiders.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
It traces another spider’s dragline, strikes with enormously elongated chelicerae and impales the victim before it can counterattack.
The long neck and jaws hold the captured spider far away from the hunter’s vulnerable body until venom subdues it.
Pelican spiders were discovered in roughly 50-million-year-old amber before living relatives were recognised, making the group a celebrated ‘living fossil’ story.