Scientists at two U.S. universities have discovered the existence of a spider that is vegetarian, as preferred nectar plants to a tasty fly. The unique spider is unique among the more than 40,000 species of spiders have documented that a vegetarian diet and is widespread because we find in Mexico, Costa Rica and Guatemala.
The only animal in the world was given the name 'Bagheera kiplingi', in honor of author Rudyard Kipling and his character Bagheera, the panther of Jungle Book. The male of this species was described in 1896 and up to 100 years after it was not the female. This is due to high sexual dimorphism of this species.
The male has the legs on cephalothorax amber and dark, greenish on top, its abdomen is red and is crossed by transverse lines green.
The female has the most developed forelegs and amber color as the male, but the rest of his limbs are pale yellow. Its carapace is reddish brown with black top, her belly much bigger than in the male is light brown markings and greenish brown. This differentiation of the sexes and the fact that there are approximately twice as many females than males had initially thought it was two species.
This spider feeds on the tender leaves of a species of acacia which has been well studied in the past 50 years because it has coevolved with ants: These insects protect the plant from herbivores and acacias provide them with shelter under its thorns and food in the form of nectar bodies called Baldi.
However, it seems,spiders 'Bagheera' also like this succulent juice of fiber, which falls short of the 90% of their food, says Christopher Meehan of Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
This behavior was first observed by his colleague Eric Olson, of Massachusetts, in Costa Rica during 2001, although in that case the arachnid completed their vegetarian diet with larvae of ants and even in the dry season practicing cannibalism.
Years later, in 2007, Meehan noted that the 'Bagheera' Mexican also fed on the bodies Wasteland acacias, without aligning with insects, which was recorded in 136 of the 140 videos I managed to record. Thereby demonstrated that they could survive on a vegetarian diet alone uan.
Before this work, scientists had seen some spiders taking drops of pollen, but always by chance, when a few drops fell on his canvas. In fact, Meehan argues that the spiders do not eat solid food, but to digest the prey externally and all they do is filter the juice when it comes to large pieces.
To fend off ants, which become colonies of 15,000 workers, the 'Bagheera' must rely on ingenuity. According to the researchers "have very advanced social skills and greater agility in their eight legs, so that escape and make their webs in the less attractive the leaves." The researcher also suspected of using a chemical smell ants, one aspect that is working now.
