It is seriously itsy. Less than 5mm long, harmless, and one of the best moms in the world.
The Hawaiian happyface spider, called nananana makakiʻi, gets its name in an obvious way: there is what seems to be a clownlike happy face on its back—technically the back of its abdomen. No one has yet agreed whether this is an adaptation that scares off larger animals that would enjoy a spider snack, or some more complex DNA shuffling happening within the population that just happens to make patterns that look like a happy face. There are thought to be nine species in the Hawaiian Islands with different “faces” or no “face” pattern at all.
But, although the happy face is certainly interesting to look at, this unusually long-legged, glassy, yellow-green jewel of an arthropod is complex in some possibly unexpected ways. For one thing, these wee Theridiidae-family spiders live on the undersides of leaves in the cool, upper-elevation native Hawaiian wet forests of Maui, Hawaiʻi Island, Molokaʻi and Oʻahu. At Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park they can sometimes be found in the deep green forest around Nāhuku (Thurston Lave Tube).
They don't build a classic web. They are found only in Hawaiʻi (so, are endemic) and spend their days quietly dozing and avoiding being seen by hungry birds or other animals, and their nights searching around nearby for something tasty to eat, using their silk in prey capture. They really like fruit flies.
Male happyface spiders also search around for mates. Some scientists say that males will offer a courtship dance on the female's leaf, which she will pay close attention to and think about before accepting him. Mating happens in the safe dark of nighttime, and the male dies soon after. Once a female spider lays her eggs on the leaf underside, she will rival the most impressive tigress in her defense of her children. When the spiderlings hatch from their little silky egg sack, she finds and brings them food for weeks. Happyface spider mothers give everything they catch to their children, they spare nothing to feed themselves, and without her they would starve. It is a long time before the tiny spiderlings can catch their own food. If a spider mom dies, the spiderlings may depart the leaf and try to find a new mother nearby. They are almost always accepted. Eventually the young spiders depart the home leaf, searching for a new leaf, fruit flies, and mates of their own.
In addition to the usual risks of being very small and edible in the forest, Hawaiian happyface spiders must avoid further pressure from invasive coqui frogs from Puerto Rico, and losing their forests to development or the damage brought by climate change. If you have fallen for this itsy bitsy spider the way we have (we love it so much we made a plush spider for our native Hawaiian animals plush collection), you may wish to know how to help protect it. Protecting the forest protects the Hawaiian happyface spider, so advocating for your national parks, supporting public lands and undeveloped forests, and learning more about how to manage the widening effects of climate change are all good ways to help keep the happyface spider, well, happy.
A fun video for kids (or the kid in you): https://study.com/academy/lesson/video/hawaiian-happy-face-spider-facts-lesson-for-kids.html
Plush finger puppet set: https://shop.hawaiipacificparks.org/products/plush-finger-puppets
Happyface spiders at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park: https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/nature/insects-and-arachnids.htm
Images courtesy Zack Pezzilo and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
