vayda on Nostr: 🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨 In Latin America, there lives a unique spider called ...
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
In Latin America, there lives a unique spider called Bagheera kiplingi. It’s a jumping spider and it shares the group’s large, acute eyes and prodigious leaping ability. But it also has a trait that singles it out among all 40,000 species of spider – it’s mostly vegetarian.
The spider, which lives on these acacias in Latin America, was first described in 1896 by the husband-and-wife naturalist team George and Elizabeth Peckham and named for Rudyard Kipling and the black panther character, Bagheera, in the author's 1894 Jungle Book.
Certain acacia plants (Vachellia collinsii) and ants (Pseudomyrmex peperi) have developed a mutually beneficial arrangement. The plant provides hollow areas for the ants to nest, along with nutritious nuggets, called Beltian bodies, for them to eat. For their part, the ants help to fend off would-be plant eaters. The crafty B. kiplingi, however, has thwarted the system—also feasting on the plant while managing to outmaneuver attacking ants.
The male develops a mainly green head and thorax. But, its abdomen appears reddish, with green stripes. Additionally, the legs of the male show a dark amber in color. Meanwhile, the female displays a rather different color pattern. Her head and thorax display a reddish-brown color. Also, a spot on the top of the head has a black coloring. In addition, her abdomen shows a light brown, with markings of darker brown and green. Finally, while her two front legs are amber colored, the others show a light yellow.
In Latin America, there lives a unique spider called Bagheera kiplingi. It’s a jumping spider and it shares the group’s large, acute eyes and prodigious leaping ability. But it also has a trait that singles it out among all 40,000 species of spider – it’s mostly vegetarian.
The spider, which lives on these acacias in Latin America, was first described in 1896 by the husband-and-wife naturalist team George and Elizabeth Peckham and named for Rudyard Kipling and the black panther character, Bagheera, in the author's 1894 Jungle Book.
Certain acacia plants (Vachellia collinsii) and ants (Pseudomyrmex peperi) have developed a mutually beneficial arrangement. The plant provides hollow areas for the ants to nest, along with nutritious nuggets, called Beltian bodies, for them to eat. For their part, the ants help to fend off would-be plant eaters. The crafty B. kiplingi, however, has thwarted the system—also feasting on the plant while managing to outmaneuver attacking ants.
The male develops a mainly green head and thorax. But, its abdomen appears reddish, with green stripes. Additionally, the legs of the male show a dark amber in color. Meanwhile, the female displays a rather different color pattern. Her head and thorax display a reddish-brown color. Also, a spot on the top of the head has a black coloring. In addition, her abdomen shows a light brown, with markings of darker brown and green. Finally, while her two front legs are amber colored, the others show a light yellow.