Tiger‑Striped Rolled Leaf Spider
This is an unmistakable Poltys recognised by its large size and whip-like abdomen, as if masquerading a fallen twig or a rolled leaf. The spear-shaped pattern on the dorsum is flanked with a pair of pale patches, and the orange legs are marked with black stripes. A similar-looking Poltys with slightly different pattern has been photographed in Sarawak, as well as Taiwan and Hainan (China). In this case, the spear-like pattern on the dorsum is not fringed by paired pale patches and the legs are not striped.
| Etymology | Named after Ida Pfeffer, Austria’s first female Austrian explorer and travel writer who collected the first specimen from Borneo in 1852. |
| Length | ♀ 17–18 mm (From eyes to the bases of the spinnerets, excluding the posterior tip of the abdomen) with the rest of the whip-like abdomen measuring another 55 mm from the spinnerets to the tip; ♂ unknown. |
| Habitat | Primary forests. |
| Type Locality | "Borneo". |
| Distribution | Brunei, China, Malaysia (Sarawak, Pahang). |
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Mastigosoma idae (Original description j)
Ausserer, 1871b Neue Radspinnen: 817, pl. 5, f. 1-3
Poltys ideae
Simon, 1895a Histoire naturelle des araignées. Deuxième édition, tome premier: 889, f doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51973
Brunei, China, Malaysia (Sarawak, Pahang).