### Identification The Common Bark Spider (*Caerostris sexcuspidata*) is a masterpiece of natural deception. The female is most often encountered, featuring a broad, flattened abdomen adorned with six distinct, horny "cusps" or protrusions along the rear margin—the trait that gives the species its name. Her coloration is a mottled palette of ashy greys, lichen-greens, and woody browns, mimicking the textured bark of her host tree. When disturbed or resting by day, she pulls her stout, hairy, black-and-white banded legs tight against her cephalothorax, transforming into a seamless "knot" or gall on a branch. Males are significantly smaller and less ornate, often overlooked by the casual observer.
### Habitat & Range This spider is a hardy resident of Sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from the southern Cape through East Africa. It is remarkably adaptable, thriving in semi-arid savannas, coastal forests, and even lush suburban gardens. You are most likely to spot them on indigenous trees like Acacias or Combretums, where their cryptic camouflage is most effective against the gnarled wood.
### Behaviour By day, the Bark Spider is a phantom; it remains motionless, relying entirely on its "dead wood" disguise to evade birds. However, as dusk falls, it becomes an industrious architect. It spins a massive, vertical orb web—often spanning over a meter in diameter—strung between trees on long, high-tension bridge lines. To avoid detection by day, the spider performs a ritualistic "web recycling" at dawn, meticulously consuming its own silk to hide its presence and reclaim precious proteins.
### Diet As a nocturnal orb-weaver, its diet consists primarily of night-flying insects. Moths are the staple, but the web’s incredible tensile strength allows it to snare heavy-bodied beetles and cicadas that would tear through the nets of lesser spiders.
### Fascinating Fact The Bark Spider doesn't just look like wood; it mimics the texture, too. Its exoskeleton is so heavily sclerotized (hardened) that if you were to gently tap a resting female, she would feel like a solid, calcified piece of bark rather than a soft-bodied arachnid!