DailyDirt: Interesting Spider Behavior

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

People tend to have an irrational fear of spiders, which are more often than not completely harmless and also beneficial because they help control the insect pest population around homes and gardens. Perhaps, instead of focusing on their "creepiness," people should learn about how cool these little creatures really are. Here are a few examples of some interesting behavior in spiders.
  • Yes, spiders eat bats too. Apparently, bat-eating spiders live on every continent (except Antarctica). Most of them catch bats in their webs, but huntsman spiders and tarantulas have been observed eating bats on forest floors. [url]
  • Spiders can adapt to zero-gravity. A "Johnson Jumper" spider named Nefertiti survived 100 days on the International Space Station, during which it demonstrated a new technique for catching fruit flies in zero-gravity. Instead of jumping on its prey, it would sidle up to it. [url]
  • Contrary to popular belief, spiders can be sociable. Of the more than 43,678 species of spiders out there, about 24 social spider species have been identified. In a most recent discovery, researchers found that females from a social species of spider called Chikunia nigra were surprisingly tolerant of other spiders from the same colony and were willing to look after another's eggs/hatchlings as if they were her own. [url]
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Filed Under: bats, behavior, biology, nefertiti, species, spiders


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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Mar 2013 @ 5:47pm

    spiders in space?!?!

    can we *not* bring spiders on spacecraft? just the idea that radiation-resistant super-spiders taking over a mars colony and escape pods gives me the heebie jeebies.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Mar 2013 @ 6:26pm

    Canadian study of drugs on spiders.... awesome minute and half video.... You will laugh...and yes that's a promise.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg-r-S0fIkA

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    Nina Paley (profile), 20 Mar 2013 @ 7:01pm

    Perhaps, instead of focusing on their "creepiness," people should learn about how cool these little creatures really are.

    , he says, with a story about SPIDERS EATING BATS.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Mar 2013 @ 11:27am

    Re: vegetarian spider

    That is awesome! Thanks for sharing.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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