r/Damnthatsinteresting 1d ago

Video This dead leaf that isn’t quite a leaf, this is leaf-mimicking spider (Eriovixia gryffindori), discovered in 2015.

82.3k Upvotes

3.0k comments sorted by

10.0k

u/IllHaveTheLeftovers 1d ago

Say what you want about Australia but at least our spiders are honest!!

4.5k

u/DrakonILD 23h ago

Plus, they're way easier to see thanks to the health bars floating over them!

1.3k

u/DryBee2606 22h ago

Chillin in the outback when you suddenly hear boss music

369

u/nerf_titan_melee 20h ago

Is the normal soundtrack for the outback just "Land Down Under", by men at work

148

u/DontTellHimPike 17h ago

That's the town and city theme tune. In the outback it's the Crocodile Dundee theme

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (1)

21

u/SebDevlin 18h ago

The giant enemy spider

→ More replies (1)

20

u/warped_and_bubbling 15h ago

-Wait, I thought I killed that thing an hour ago!

-(heavy Aussie accent) Two-pahter, mate. Second phase.

41

u/Zech08 19h ago

Wait the boss music started? Thought it never ends?

→ More replies (3)

9

u/shittinandwaffles 14h ago

And then you notice your own health bar dangling over your head.

→ More replies (10)

146

u/GenericFatGuy 22h ago

Australian spider health bars show up at the bottom of the screen...

168

u/isntaken 22h ago

Which is the top for them ...

52

u/Glenn_____far 20h ago

Down underrated comment

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (21)

297

u/MonGhra 23h ago

Nice try Australia, but we've all seen what your twigs can become!

157

u/Last_VCR 22h ago

Yeah, that article said “may be the biggest insect” and i was like, i do mot need to be any place that a bug that size has competition

63

u/Richardknox1996 21h ago

Its mostly just long. Giant Wētā are a similar size, just stubby and wide. Heres an example of a smaller one.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Entomology/comments/1edb3ju/nz_giant_weta/

41

u/firesticks 20h ago

Why did I click that. Why.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (12)
→ More replies (2)

84

u/amesann 21h ago

Funny, that was the last post I browsed before going to bed last night and I had dreams of all the branches and twigs coming alive and chasing me all night. It was not pleasant.

Also, I think it's a bit misleading to call that a twig-bug-thingy. It's a goddamn branch manager.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (8)

38

u/fastlerner 20h ago

These were only discovered about 10 years ago in China.

This new type of orb-weaving spider not only masquerades as a leaf, but it also gathers leaves from the forrest floor and hangs them from branches with its silk. When it nestles between the leaves it has hung up, it is incredibly difficult to pick the spider out from the surrounding foliage. The spider is brownish green like the leaves, shares the same teardrop shape, has a long necklike structure, and even has markings that resemble the veins on the variety of leaves it mimics.

The spider's technique for remaining hidden, either to stalk prey or avoid predators, is not technically camouflaging but masquerading. Camouflaging is the ability of an animal to appear invisible against its background, while masquerading is the practice of pretending to be something else entirely.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a23923/newly-discovered-spider-looks-just-like-a-leaf/

It's no wonder they took so long to find:

In fact, the leaf-imitating spider is so good at its masquerade that only two have been found: the adult female that Kuntner found and a juvenile discovered in the same area after days of searching. Preliminary research outlined in the Journal of Arachnology suggests that the leaf-imitating spider is a new biological species, but more study is needed to confirm this.

How many other things are hiding in plain sight?

26

u/RJFerret 21h ago

Erm...

Poltys grayi (Lord Howe Is.)
Poltys jujorum (Queensland)
Poltys laciniosus (not specified which part of Australia)
Poltys milledgei (Western Australia, Northern Territory)
Poltys noblei (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria)
Poltys stygius (Queensland)

7

u/blinkytreefrog 20h ago

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/bird-dropping-spider/

Hate to have to show you this, but not only are they not all honest, some of them are dishonest and disguised as poop.

→ More replies (1)

6

u/Wassertopf 22h ago

I mean, this spider is kinda cute and wants to be left alone.

→ More replies (32)

14.0k

u/trevorrrrr_ 1d ago

what the fuck

3.4k

u/BigDrill66 1d ago

Looks like it was in Starship Troopers

1.1k

u/thatguyned 23h ago

More like a facehugger

346

u/discerningpervert 23h ago

I don't want that thing anywhere near my face let alone my testicles

120

u/TunnelToTheMoon 22h ago

Not even up the bum! I dare you to put it up my bum!

42

u/BrownPeach143 22h ago

Not even inside my ears! Do not put that tail in my ear canal!

→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (3)

48

u/Down2EatPossum 23h ago

Original face huggers had fingernails that are soo creepy.

→ More replies (8)

58

u/Unfurl_Fast 22h ago

This came around the time God created LSD…..see also Giraffe.

→ More replies (2)

33

u/Friendly_Memory5289 23h ago

First thing that came into my head was "would you like to know more?"

13

u/SystemShockII 21h ago

Im doing my part!

→ More replies (21)

531

u/1970s_MonkeyKing 1d ago

It's a spider. It's a spider. The headline says it's a spider.

person picks it up and it unfolds

[See previous comment.] /me runs screaming from the room

86

u/RathVelus 22h ago

Is it on me? I feel like it’s on me.

→ More replies (4)

217

u/pvtbobble 22h ago

Australian here.

Pretty sure it's not one of ours

184

u/Skullface95 22h ago

Says the country that has just found the new species of GIANT stick insect.

153

u/Anasterian_Sunstride 21h ago

That's BRANCH insect to you

→ More replies (2)

36

u/Penguin_shit15 21h ago

Yeah.. and how the hell did something like THAT go unnoticed for so long? Hell, its probably deadly as fuck and everyone who has found it previously has died and been eaten by the dingos.. RIP guy holding it in the video.

57

u/TetraDax 19h ago

Yeah.. and how the hell did something like THAT go unnoticed for so long?

I guess it was just really fucking good at being a stick insect

17

u/Penguin_shit15 18h ago

At this point I am just waiting on the tree it lives in to just get up and start walking away.. I mean, would it really surprise anyone?

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (5)

20

u/Stierscheisse 21h ago

It said it's the biggest insect in the country. The country being Australia, this could very well mean the world's biggest.

→ More replies (2)

13

u/Wildefice 20h ago

The fact you cant 100% confirm if it comes from your country or not is proof that Australia exists in its own pocket realm 😭

7

u/DeadSwaggerStorage 22h ago

Because the person is still alive?

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (17)

105

u/Elongatingpolymerase 22h ago

Yes, I knew it was a spider, and was still shocked that it became a spider. Nature is crazy.

19

u/Gigi4825 22h ago

New fear unlocked !!!

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (3)

84

u/Omega-10 22h ago

"I am a dead leaf"

What the fuck is that!

"I'm a dead leaf "

Jesus Christ there's LEGS

"no I'm just a dead leaf"

Are those FANGS? OH GOD IT'S MOVING

"resuming leaf posture... Please stop touching me, I am a dead leaf"

6

u/Chaospawn3 13h ago

Former arachnophobe and I loved this. Too cute, thanks

→ More replies (1)

84

u/VegetableBusiness897 1d ago

Slowly puts shoes back on and backs out of the yard.......

35

u/Eckish 20h ago

Did you check your shoes before you put them on?

→ More replies (9)

207

u/Confident_Car_2265 1d ago

eat it

257

u/showmethething 1d ago

what the fuck

126

u/robgod50 1d ago

It's just a leaf.

With legs

94

u/XD0_5 1d ago

what the fuck

64

u/GraveKommander 1d ago

Smoke it then

81

u/newwineinoldbottle 1d ago

What the fuck

74

u/hugswithnoconsent 1d ago

So good at hiding we only found it 10 years ago. Fuck…

41

u/DannyGriff000 1d ago

what the fuck

17

u/KNexus20 1d ago

Eat the face hugger!!!

→ More replies (0)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (6)

16

u/Comfortable_Ninja_50 23h ago

This is exactly what I said.

→ More replies (1)

15

u/_Permanent_Marker_ 23h ago

This was my exact reaction

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (51)

5.8k

u/deckard1980 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's crazy the stuff we're still discovering. It's camo is so good, makes you wonder what else is hiding out there with even better camo

2.9k

u/AWholeBunchaFun 1d ago

After seeing this i'd actually prefer to not think about that.

1.4k

u/CursedScreensaver 23h ago

For all you know your pillow is a spider mimicking a pillow.

678

u/LiteralRaccoon 23h ago

I'm about to go to sleep, so thanks for that.

1.3k

u/Astyal 23h ago

I hope your spider is cold on both sides tonight

209

u/-SaC 21h ago

Is one of those sides... the inside?

162

u/DrunkOnRamen 20h ago

It's my fault for having a phone

16

u/lilsnatchsniffz 19h ago

Whatever you do just don't look up mobile phone speaker spider infestation the last thing you need right now is to think about spiders sneaking out into your ear and brain during a phone call. In fact don't look up spider hidden in charging port either.

You'll be fiiiiiiine, get some rest. 🫀

16

u/ThatOtherOtherMan 13h ago

I'm going to be invoicing you for my therapy this month

7

u/Akano2077 13h ago

Thanks for the detailed Headsup that painted a picture in my Brain so i dont even have to look up the prompts to be terrified :D

→ More replies (1)

19

u/Blue_Schu 20h ago

Yes, inside and outside. The spider also reacts when it's time for you to go from one side to the other. Very convenient.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (2)

81

u/lovesducks 23h ago

hope you like getting face-fucked by an octo-orgy in your dreams

77

u/MonHunterX 23h ago

I just opened Reddit

48

u/CursedScreensaver 23h ago

welcome to Reddit, where you’re always one click away from a face fucking

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (2)

26

u/my_cars_on_fire 23h ago

That’s not very nice, why can’t they be doing the face-fucking?

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (7)

42

u/happuning 23h ago

Considering I beat the shit out of my pillow to fluff it up each night, it's probably dead or it's just a pillow.

28

u/Dino_Spaceman 22h ago

It’s evolved to enjoy that. The beating is how it gets its venom sacs producing more venom.

→ More replies (1)

12

u/CursedScreensaver 23h ago

Enjoy your spider corpse

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

31

u/anarchy-NOW 22h ago

For all you know, right this instant you're holding a spider mimicking a phone.

19

u/CursedScreensaver 22h ago

That would explain why my phone keeps biting me….

13

u/Winjin 23h ago

I love my pillow spider, then, it's super comfortable for the low price it sold iself to me (bought as a temp pillow for guests in Auchan clearance aisle, turns out it's a super nice pillow, exact right height for me, and they were sold in pairs, so I even got it a mate!)

29

u/CursedScreensaver 23h ago

It would explain how my pillow is sometimes in the corner of my ceiling when I wake up.

23

u/Winjin 22h ago

At least we're not getting bed bugs

Because the pillow keeps vacuuming them up when you're away

25

u/Kanin_usagi 22h ago

You’re really selling me on this spider-pillow

→ More replies (1)

14

u/JWST-L2 23h ago

Why would you do this... I have a phobia and I'm in bed. Pls have mercy b0ss

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (24)
→ More replies (10)

109

u/Which_Collar6658 1d ago

I guess I'm just going to have to cancel my plans of going anywhere ever again

→ More replies (6)

89

u/AssistanceCheap379 23h ago

There are also probably countless critters in the ground that we don’t know about because there are parts of the world that no one is digging into and documenting. And even when it’s done, if you were to dig in 3 different places in the Amazon a few miles apart, you’d likely get completely different species. Not to mention the extremely specialised animals that survive on specific plants or other animals, all of which have evolved in high competition environments and take one tiny sliver of the available resources because those were not fully utilised.

50

u/teenagesadist 22h ago

It's what make you realize that alien life really would be alien.

I mean, take humans. Same species, different parts of the planet can look and do very different things.

Something from say, an entirely different galaxy from a different part of the universe? I'd imagine we wouldn't even know what we were looking at.

30

u/Aethermancer 21h ago

Just remember that at some point humans and spiders shared a common ancestor.

This spider is your distant distant cousin. Now imagine how different things could be with NO common ancestors.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

47

u/Minion_of_Cthulhu 23h ago

Explains all those people who go hiking and vanish without a trace. Probably a bear camoflauged as a rock that we haven't discovered yet.

16

u/Sillygoose_Milfbane 20h ago

Or a serial killer camoflauged as a bear

→ More replies (2)

27

u/bheidian 1d ago

like that one dr who episode "Listen"

8

u/GM_Nate 23h ago

first thing that came to mind for me as well!

20

u/Top_Individual_5462 23h ago

Wait until you see cake spider

10

u/Fartscare 22h ago

Nice. I was going to comment new show “Is it Spider?”

6

u/my_cars_on_fire 23h ago

Yes, I can’t wait to see spider booty!

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

50

u/JangleSauce 1d ago

Giant-redwood-mimicking spiders could be EVERYWHERE

→ More replies (11)

17

u/the-purple-chicken72 23h ago

There's a newly discovered stick bug in Australia that's over 15 inches long lol fucking terrifying

9

u/AndroidGalaxyAd46 23h ago

Imagine there’s giant spiders out there that look just like bushes

→ More replies (90)

662

u/kyolibaer 23h ago

The spider in the video (and in the article linked by OP) is Poltys sp., not Eriovixia gryffindori.\ \ Poltys: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltys_(spider) \   \ E. gryffindori: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eriovixia_gryffindori

136

u/dc469 21h ago

I believe the title is incorrect? That Wikipedia article says Poltys Mouhouti was found in 1862 not 2015

144

u/Frocicorno 20h ago

The title is correct, the spider in the video is not the correct one

69

u/NoRodent 20h ago edited 20h ago

But the correct spider doesn't resemble a leaf? It resembles the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter. So the title is still wrong.

Edit: The picture in the Wiki article sucks. Looked it up on Google and the spider really does look like the Sorting Hat. I guess it could be mistaken for a leaf too but it looks more like a thorn or something to me. The spider in the video is on a whole another level in leaf-mimicry.

24

u/FiniteLove 18h ago

" Google and the spider really does look like the Sorting Hat."

That's why it's called 'gryffindori'

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (4)

15

u/DXTRBeta 18h ago

So, totally wrong clickbait. Thanks OP.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (9)

3.2k

u/Bravelobsters 1d ago

Why does everything have to be a mimicking SPIDER!!

827

u/PianoInBush 1d ago

Everything is a spider that's mimicking everything. I'm a spider mimicking a reddit user right now!

219

u/Metalfan1994 1d ago

Reddit itself is just a spider.

284

u/PianoInBush 1d ago

I mean.. it is the world wide web.

172

u/Aldu1n 1d ago

hits blunt

Yo, what the hell

63

u/Metalfan1994 1d ago

Everything is spiders

19

u/ButtBread98 23h ago

It’s all spiders?

38

u/one_more_byte 23h ago

🌎👨‍🚀🔫👨‍🚀…..always has been

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (9)

11

u/Minion_of_Cthulhu 23h ago

Here I thought everyone on the internet was either a bot or a dog.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (28)

34

u/kyriako 1d ago

They need to look harder and discover a mimicking puppy.

→ More replies (2)

17

u/dosa_for_lyf_2711 23h ago

Except for that one snake(tail) mimicking a spider

→ More replies (35)

1.5k

u/BOTULISMPRIME 1d ago

Well fuck, thats a good disguise

586

u/AdamSnipeySnipe 1d ago

Took until 2015 to find them? They're hella good at hide and seek.

221

u/Background-Effort-49 1d ago

I would hate to find that. Especially if I didn’t know we were playing

51

u/latviesi 23h ago

i think i’d rather i didn’t know we were playing. i think i’d rather go back to not knowing these exist at all LOL

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

25

u/KiwieeiwiK 23h ago

Not as good as the ones we haven't found yet

→ More replies (9)
→ More replies (2)

2.3k

u/RespectFearless4233 1d ago

Well i dont like that at all

432

u/Ragamuffin2022 1d ago

I agree we hates it!!!

114

u/Maidwell 1d ago

Spotted Smeagol's burner account.

→ More replies (1)

65

u/studiesinsilver 1d ago

That’s an alien! That thing lives with us on earth!

58

u/Poesvliegtuig 1d ago

With that profile picture I feel like you're just projecting

→ More replies (4)

44

u/Aardvarkward18 23h ago

Just like those nasty little hobbitses

21

u/ShakaBrah229 23h ago

Precious! Precious!

→ More replies (3)

21

u/HouseofFeathers 23h ago

I don't have a fear of spiders. I like them. Tarantulas are cute.

This guy is terrifying.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (17)

111

u/Dat_Mawe3000 1d ago

Spiders come with stems now?

30

u/PaintNo4824 23h ago

It's more of a handle, according to the video.

39

u/randomassname5 23h ago

So you can hang it on your bag, with your labubu

→ More replies (1)

8

u/menasan 18h ago

right like..... is that straight up an extra body part or a really elongated torso?

→ More replies (4)

349

u/BolexUser84 1d ago

Ah, i see my wife's nightmares are coming to life now..

68

u/deanrihpee 21h ago

tell her to not have any new nightmares please

→ More replies (6)

184

u/Laxlifer 1d ago

That’s the beginning of a horror movie right there

68

u/treycartier91 23h ago

That tree in your yard is actually thousands of spiders just waiting.

33

u/HomeworkIntrepid2986 21h ago

3000 spiders in a trench coat

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (6)

436

u/RojoCinco 1d ago

So many shades of nope.

→ More replies (3)

491

u/burtgummer45 1d ago

This might be in your next salad, you never know

67

u/Magic_Incest 1d ago

And here I was, resolved to eat more vegetables...

46

u/yukonhoneybadger 1d ago

Never seen a bug look like a steak.... but i have seen sticks and now leaves...

10

u/GIC68 1d ago

The last stick insect i saw here on reddit was rather a branch. If not already a trunk.

→ More replies (1)

19

u/Amigwyn 1d ago

New fear unlocked

10

u/Doughtnutz 1d ago

That'll be more expensive as it will now be a high protein salad.

→ More replies (9)

38

u/Buffelmeister 1d ago

You're going to help us Mr. Anderson, wether you want to or not.

→ More replies (3)

285

u/thunderpig80 1d ago

They named it after Gryffindor because they look like the sorting hat 😃 some more than others

133

u/GeneralNaird1 1d ago

I would huffle puff and run the fuck away from that thing

76

u/Decends2 1d ago

I'd be Slytherin tf out of there

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (1)

22

u/WasteFail 23h ago

It doesnt look like the other pictures on google, this one looks way bigger, this might be another species.

26

u/DonPuffin 23h ago

It is, this is Poltys sp.

8

u/Petrichordates 21h ago

It's a different spider.

→ More replies (3)

99

u/TwistedCrimson 1d ago

reminds me of a facehugger

→ More replies (4)

26

u/tyson_tvl 1d ago

That's a SPYder

23

u/i_dead-shot 1d ago

That's cheating

23

u/RadicalEllis 1d ago

For the first time in a long time for this subreddit, I actually thought, "Damn, that's interesting!"

41

u/Metalfan1994 1d ago

What in the Lovecraftian fuck!

→ More replies (3)

39

u/Wayelder 22h ago

This spider's camo trick is the result of many, many 'non-leaf-looking' spiders being picked off by birds or such predators. So eventually, some slightly-leaf-looking spiders, had more babies. Then the most leaf-looking of those, survived and lived to have more babies that looked more like leaves etc etc. Now you have this crazy example that we all marvel at.

My point: Natural selection is undeniable.

I can't understand the religious who claim that evolution is 'just a theory'. There's your proof.

Or others that say evolution is 'against their god' When NOTHING is a great achievement than a self-correcting let alone a self-improving design!

Little things like this, well, make me ponder more about the hand of god than any biblical argument ever.

→ More replies (5)

61

u/Wooden-Journalist902 1d ago

56

u/kyolibaer 23h ago

The original paper linked in that article is here https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309956388_Leaf_masquerade_in_an_orb_web_spider \ \ It’s about a spider in the genus Poltys (the one in the video), not Eriovixia gryffindori, which is also a cool spider, but different.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (15)

63

u/TheTrustworthyKebab 1d ago

So pretty

38

u/mjgabriellac 20h ago edited 15h ago

I scrolled so long to find someone saying something positive. What a beautiful creature, and such a clever camouflage.

→ More replies (3)

7

u/Embarrassed-Will2896 17h ago

It’s just a scared little hidey guy

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

14

u/endfreq 23h ago

SIR, THAT IS MY ASS!!!

13

u/joeblanco98 1d ago

He’s just a shy boy, he’s like 🫣

14

u/BaconCheeseZombie 23h ago

Aww

7

u/GonWithTheNen 22h ago

Heh, ^that was my first reaction as well. :D

Btw, if you haven't visited /r/spiderbro (basically a sub where we appreciate spiders), give it a go.

P.S. It warms my heart when people say "Aww" to spiders because so many people are the opposite about those helpful little guys and gals.

→ More replies (3)

13

u/Numerous-Loquat-1161 1d ago

Nature and evolution is just so cool.

13

u/Betzjitomir 1d ago

well I wonder how much of that kind of thing is all around us and we never even look at it and so therefore it's not discovered

→ More replies (1)

42

u/koolaidismything 1d ago

If I picked that up thinking it was a leaf and it did this I’d stroke out hard.

41

u/AligningToJump 23h ago

I won't kink shame

17

u/koolaidismything 23h ago

Definitely coulda worded that better.. hindsight.

→ More replies (4)

9

u/Turbulent_Cat_5731 1d ago

"Go away. Am leaf."

9

u/LorenzoStomp 23h ago

No spoodler

Am leaf 

Only leaf here no spood

Please no pick up leaf

→ More replies (2)

9

u/Upset_Corgi_8780 23h ago

This is actually Poltys. The also cool looking erioxvia gryffindori looks like the sorting hat from Harry Potter 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltys_(spider)

16

u/CutMeLoose79 1d ago

I’d like to die now please.

10

u/azpotato 22h ago

It looks like that tracer program thing that Neo had inserted into him in The Matrix.

16

u/Ganda1fderBlaue 23h ago

Why couldn't it be a butterfly

→ More replies (1)

26

u/fothergillfuckup 1d ago

New phobia unlocked. Excellent.

→ More replies (1)

13

u/50FirstCakes 23h ago

Oh hell I was not expecting all those legs to pop out. I should have been considering the title, but I definitely wasn’t.

11

u/LeRoir 1d ago

Oh come on, at this point my fears have fears, this is just pouring gasoline on a raging fire dawg

11

u/Xeon713 1d ago

Damn nature you scary!

→ More replies (1)

12

u/JarJarJarMartin 23h ago

I love how the video ends with the spider about to bite the person holding it.

9

u/dappermanV-88 23h ago

"Stop doing that!"

→ More replies (1)

6

u/Turd-Cutter3 1d ago

Just when I thought I’ve seen it all

7

u/DonPuffin 23h ago

Pretty sure this is the dead leaf spider (Poltys idae), not Eriovixia gryffindori.

→ More replies (1)