Yes this is a terrible photo I took a few nights ago. But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Orsonwelles spiders are a neat group of endemic linyphiids found here in Hawai`i. Their characteristic horizontal spiderwebs are easily to spot in forests. But being nocturnal, I’ve never actually seen the spiders myself.

So when I was invited on an evening invertebrate survey, I jumped at the chance to get a glimpse of one. The big females were quite skittish; they kept scurrying back to their hiding places whenever I shown a light on them. This photo was the best I could do.

At least I could appreciate the size. The hawaiian lineage is technically an example of island gigantism with O. malus being the largest known Linyphiidae. This species on O`ahu, O. ambersonorum has a body roughly the size of a quarter.

With me always enjoying quirky facts and humor, I am forever grateful to Gustavo Hormiga for naming the genus Orsonwelles and setting the precedent that most species epithets honor his works in some way. O. calx for his character Harry Lime in the Third Man, O. polites for Citizen Kane, etc. My secret hope is a new population is discovered and thought to be a new species. One of Orson Welles last roles was as Unicron in the Transformers Movie. Orsonwelles planetophagus anyone? Well, one can dream.