9 NEW Weird Spider Species
Like 5 Dislike 0 Published on 3 Dec 2016
From spiders that look like leaves, to Spiders that can Eat Fish Twice their Own Size, these are 9 New Spider Species!
Eight new species of whip spider were discovered earlier in 2016 in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. The arachnid is actually a cross between a spider and a scorpion … and is also known as a tailless whip scorpion. That would seem to make for a nightmarish hybrid. But the creatures have no venomous fangs and are harmless to humans. While these arachnids can grow up to 24 inches (60 centimeters), the ones recently described were much smaller. The new species were differentiated by their body parts … with some having eyes in the center of their heads. There are some 170 species of whip spider known around the world … Brazil has the world’s largest diversity of the animals, with 25 species identified. Unfortunately, their habitat there is threatened by human encroachment and deforestation.
Spiders typically prey on insects … but did you know that there are some spiders that have a taste for seafood. Zoologists have discovered a number of spiders that dine on small fish to supplement their diet … and can consume prey twice their size and weight. Some are semi-aquatic spiders that will lurk at the fringes of shallow freshwater streams or swamps. Others are capable of swimming, diving, and even walking on the water’s surface. While five different species of fish-eating spiders have been discovered across the world, most incidents have been documented in Florida wetlands … where semi-aquatic spiders have been observed catching and eating small freshwater fish like mosquitofish. The creature uses powerful enzymes and neurotoxins that helps them kill and digest fish larger than themselves. The feeding process is thought to take several hours.
A new species of spider was recently discovered in China’s Yunnan (you-non) rainforest. Researchers say it it’s the first of its kind that can mimic a leaf. The arachnid uses its silk to stick dead leaves to tree branches. Then it simply lurks among the leaves, where it likely hides from predators and waits for prey. The spider can mimic leaves with a greenish-brown color … and it even has markings on its teardrop-shaped body that resemble leaf-like veins. Experts cite the spider’s behavior as masquerade. Unlike camouflage, masquerade allows an animal to resemble an object … and has much more success if surrounded by many examples of their disguise. Camouflage allows an animal to essentially become invisible … a tiger’s stripes being an example. When the leaf-mimicking spider uses dead leaves to help conceal itself, that demonstrates a successful masquerade. And because that masquerade is so convincing, it might explain why so few of the spiders have ever been collected … scientists have only found two so far.
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