Kinder, Gentler Spider Eats Veggies, Cares for Kids


	Kinder, Gentler Spider Eats Veggies, Cares for Kids

tabsey

10-13-2009 1:12 AM

94 views

tags:

nature

tabsey says:

It takes all kinds. Dare say it would still attack to protect whatever spiders attack to protect.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/31359efa-ec05-4272-aa15-2290a8fb8a8b/C6D82BDF-9293-4DF2-B161-735AE1F2D659/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/vegetarian-spider/" href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/vegetarian-spider/" style="font-size: 11px;">www.wired.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/vegetarian-spider/"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.wired.com/img/4A15028C-C7E6-4B50-B6E0-CDFD1D10D971" alt="bagheera_kiplingi" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/vegetarian-spider/">Each of the world’s 40,000 spider species survives by hunting and killing — except, that is, for <EM>Bagheera kiplingi</EM>, the world’s first vegetarian arachnid</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/vegetarian-spider/">Found in Central America, the order-defying jumping spider eats nutrient-rich structures called Beltian bodies, which are found on the tips of Acacia trees. Trees produce the bodies to feed ants that defend them, which is a textbook example of what’s called co-evolutionary mutalism, and one that<EM> B. kiplingi</EM> has evolved to exploit</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/vegetarian-spider/">proving that <EM>B. kiplingi</EM> is indeed what it eats: plants, with a few larval ants on the side</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/vegetarian-spider/">A few other spiders have been documented consuming nectar, but only as a snack. No other spider is so predominantly vegetarian. And that’s not all: It looks like <EM>B. kiplingi</EM> males help care for eggs and young — something entirely unprecedented in the spider world</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/vegetarian-spider/">The researchers are now studying whether there’s a link between <EM>B. kiplingi</EM>’s predilection for plants and parental concern</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/C6D82BDF-9293-4DF2-B161-735AE1F2D659/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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