Vegetarian spider is Gandhi of arachnids - life - 12 October 2009 - New Scientist

Description

Ever wondered what it's like to be a vegetarian at a steak-eating convention? Welcome to the world of Bagheera kiplingi , the only spider that survives mainly on plants.

"Around 40 or 50 spider species have been documented drinking nectar, but this is the first case where a spider has been shown to survive on plant matter," says Ken Whitney of Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Christopher Meehan at the University of Arizona in Tucson and colleagues analysed the isotopes in the spider's body tissue in order to identify the source of its food.

The ratio of heavy: normal forms of certain elements can identify diet type and source, with high ratios of N: N, for example, tending to indicate a carnivorous diet. A high C: C ratio would indicate a herbivorous diet, since plants have more C than C.

Beltian bodies

The team found that N: N ratios in B. kiplingi spiders were 5 per cent lower than in other jumping spiders in the area, whilst its C: C ratios were identical to those found in protein-rich nodules called Beltian bodies , which are found on the leaves of ...

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