Walking in the Shadows

Random musings from Warwickshire on life in general... Things that make me laugh, make me cry, things that wind me up beyond all endurance - and everything in between.

Showing posts with label Spider. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spider. Show all posts

Cameras replacing mirrors blamed for spider housing crisis

I make no apologies for posting this - it's had me laughing when not much else has made me smile recently.


Enjoy.


Karen

When things never happen like you wanted
Dark nights always keep you in the shade
Some words would be better left unspoken
No joke there’s a price that must be paid


No one thinks of the little guy' says friendly neighbourhood spider.

TopGear.com's roving correspondent, Cory Spondent, with his mostly incorrect exclusives from the world of motoring...


The rise of cameras replacing wing mirrors on EVs has triggered a housing shortage for spiders, it is claimed, with the number of eight-legged stowaways in sharp decline.



Cameras - which are typically sleeker than traditional mirrors in order to cut aerodynamic drag - don't offer enough surface area on which to anchor a harmless-yet-unsightly cobweb.

Wide-angle lens cameras also tend to be entirely sealed, meaning spiders have nowhere to hide while you dismantle the web on your 1.0-litre Corsa that will be entirely rebuilt by tomorrow morning.

"I thought the advent of auto-folding mirrors was bad, but this situation is much, much worse," explained a spider, who asked to remain anonymous. "It's getting harder and harder to find somewhere to live.

"Manufacturers don't seem to realise we need simple, affordable housing, not this luxury stuff that only the top one per cent can buy. Where are my hundreds of eggs going to hatch?"

"Eventually we're just going to have to move into your car proper: under the seats, hanging from the headliner, inside the instrument binnacle,” it added, before whispering: 

“We could be anywhere.  Like the sound of that? Huh? No. Now spec that Ioniq 5 with real mirrors like a respectable human being and we'll consider the matter closed."


'Veggie' spider shuns meat diet

No - this isn't a joke post.  I got wind of it on the BBC e-mail that I get sent every morning...

Karen

Now some things you hold on to - and some you just let go
Seems like the ones that you can't have
Are the ones that you want most


********************
A spider that dines almost exclusively on plants has been described by scientists.

It is the first-known predominantly vegetarian spider; all of the other known 40,000 spider species are thought to be mainly carnivorous. Bagheera kiplingi, which is found in Central America and Mexico, bucks the meat-eating trend by feasting on acacia plants.The research is published in the journal Current Biology.  The herbivorous spider was filmed on high-definition camera.

The jumping arachnid, which is 5-6mm long, has developed a taste for the tips of the acacia plants - known as Beltian bodies - which are packed full of protein.

This is the only spider we know that deliberately only goes after plants


Professor Robert Curry

But to reach this leafy fare, the spider has to evade the attention of ants, which live in the hollow spines of the tree.

The ants and acacia trees have co-evolved to form a mutually beneficial relationship: the aggressive ants protect the trees from predators, swarming to attack any invaders; and in return for acting as bodyguards, the ants get to gorge on the acacias' Beltian bodies themselves.

But the crafty Bagheera kiplingi has found a way to exploit this symbiotic relationship.  One of the study's authors, Professor Robert Curry, from Villanova University, Pennsylvania, told BBC News: "The spiders basically dodge the ants.

"The spiders live on the plants - but way out on the tips of the old leaves, where the ants don't spend a lot of time, because there isn't any food on those leaves."

But when they get hungry, the spiders head to the newer leaves, and get ready to run the ant gauntlet.

Professor Curry said: "And they wait for an opening - they watch the ants move around, and they watch to see that there are not any ants in the local area that they are going after.

"And then they zip in and grab one of these Beltian bodies and then clip it off, hold it in their mouths and run away.

"And then they retreat to one of the undefended parts of the plant to eat it."


 Like other species of jumping spider, Bagheera kiplingi has keen eyesight, is especially fast and agile and is thought to have good cognitive skills, which allows it to "hunt" down this plant food.

The spider's herbivorous diet was first discovered in Costa Rica in 2001 by Eric Olsen from Brandeis University, and was then independently observed again in 2007 by Christopher Meehan, at that time an undergraduate student at Villanova University.

The team then collaborated to describe the spider for the first time in this Current Biology paper.
Professor Curry said he was extremely surprised when he found out about its unusual behaviour.
He said: "This is the only spider we know that deliberately only goes after plants."

Competition in the tropics is pretty fierce so there are always advantages to do what someone else isn't already doing


Professor Curry


While some spiders will occasionally supplement their diet with a little nectar or pollen, Bagheera kiplingi's diet is almost completely vegetarian - although occasionally topped up with a little ant larvae at times.

Professor Curry said there were numerous reasons why this spider might have turned away from meaty meals.

He said: "Competition in the tropics is pretty fierce so there are always advantages to doing what someone else isn't already doing.

"They are jumping spiders, so they don't build a web to catch food, so they have to catch their prey through pursuit. And the Beltian bodies are not moving - they are stuck - so it is a very predictable food supply."

Acacias also produce leaves throughout the year - even through the dry season - which would make them attractive.

And Professor Curry added: "Because the plants are protected by ants, they have none of their own chemical defences that other plants do."

Eight legged fiends....

Well, the engineer has been out to sort the problem with the alarm. It turns out that the moggies weren't responsible at all - it was a spider walking across the sensor!

A few years ago, we'd had the sensors sealed against eight-legged invaders, but it looks like the damned things needed re-doing. The one sensor had quite a few webs in it, and a couple of small spiders that had taken up residence there.

Needless to say, Mum and I were not very impressed, as Ponto is supposed to be the moggy with the hair-trigger appetite - and he's got a thing for eating spiders. Revolting hairball!

Still, at least I know what I can do to prevent this from hopefully happening again - just make sure that there are no eight-legged fiends near the sensors!

Time to call this entry quits - I'm off to watch the Spanish GP on ITV...

Back later, if I get chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread