The two-spotted bromeliad spider (Cupiennius bimaculatus) is a nocturnal ambush hunter native to South America and the Amazon region. Inhabiting broad-leaved tropical plants, it hides during daylight hours and emerges at night to hunt without constructing a traditional web. Instead, it relies on supreme agility and fine sensory hairs tuned to detect minute surface vibrations from nearby prey. Though related to wandering spiders, it is far less dangerous than its notorious cousin, the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria); a bite from C. bimaculatus typically causes only mild symptoms similar to a bee sting. I came across this impressive spider while it was resting on foliage during the day in the protected forest of “La Perla” in Ecuador’s Santo Domingo province.