These arachnids make dinner out of their potential predators in a startling role reversal
At less than a tenth of an ounce, the regal jumping spider can prey on frogs and lizards two to three times its own weight, according to a new study in the Journal of Arachnology.
It's the first time scientists have published observations of jumping spiders—the biggest family of spiders—eating vertebrates.
Source & further reading:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/08/jumping-spiders-lizards-frogs-predators/
Journal article:
http://americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v45_n2/arac-45-2-238.pdf
Photograph by Martin Fisher
#biodiversity #spiders #coolcritters #science
Good thing people are over a thousand times their weight or we might have some serious competition :)
ReplyDeleteTechnically, they do not eat verterbrates, because their saliva liquefies the organes into the body... Froggy milk shake. A sort of.
ReplyDeleteFascinating!
ReplyDelete