An interesting fact about spiders has recently surfaced… for the first time, they’ve found one that is a herbivore, primarily eating plants. Not only that, the Bagheera kiplingi spider (clearly named by a fan of the Jungle Book story), has chosen a particularly tricky plant to be eating. Any time it wants a snack it has to sneak past armed guards!
The acacia plant in southern Mexico and central America has no natural defenses against passing snackers. Many plants have evolved a strong bitter taste, or prickly things, but the acacias have sub-contracted their protection. Each plant is home to a colony of stinging ants that live and feed from the plant. In exchange for this protection, the acacia leaves excrete a little drop of nectar for ant food. A lovely symbiotic relationship, until this spider comes along.
Through extensive video research, they’ve observed how the Bagheera spider is getting in to nibble on the leaves of the acacia. It’s much like you’d expect to see in a movie. The spider, with excellent eyesight, watches for the ants on patrol, and plans his path to avoid them. Add in ninja-like agility and this spider’s daily lunch would put Jackie Chan to shame.
Another interesting wrinkle in the story of this spider is that they live in groups, which is not seen in any other spiders. The adult male spiders even take care of eggs and young, where pretty much across the board most other daddy spiders are the number one threat to it’s own kids. Generally, these vegetarian spiders share more in common with ants than they do with other spiders.
Perhaps it’s evolutionary proof that being a vegetarian does make you a nice guy. Maybe that crazy lady in California was on to something when she told me that “eating meat blocks your articles.”
