Misumenops nepenthicola
| Misumenops nepenthicola | ||||||||||||
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| Misumenops nepenthicola | ||||||||||||
| ( Pocock , 1898) |
Misumenops nepenthicola is a species of spider in the family of the crab spider (Thomisidae). The species occurs in Borneo and Singapore .
description
The front body ( prosoma ) is light red, the rear body ( opisthosoma ) is darker red. Both sexes reach a length of about 6 mm.
Way of life
The species lives exclusively in pitcher plants ( Nepenthes sp.). Up until a few years ago, it was assumed that the spider stayed only in the pitchers directly below the edge and caught insects there, which were attracted by the sugary secretions given off by the plant.
In investigations with special optics, however, it was found that M. nepenthicola also hunts in the catch fluid. Mosquito larvae that come to the surface of the water to breathe are caught there with the first pairs of legs, caught with the legs hanging in the water or captured by diving. When threatened, the spider hides in the remains of the prey at the bottom of the jug, but there it also hunts mosquito larvae that are there between the remains of prey. The remains of the prey are kicked up by the spider's legs and the frightened mosquito larvae are then caught. After all, the spider also uses the plant to safely eat large and dangerous prey such as large weaver ants . The spider apparently uses the vibrations to register weaver ants caught in the trapping fluid and their agony to the point of drowning. After the ant drowns and sank to the ground, the spider waits about 10 minutes. Then the spider dips into the trapping fluid and a little later returns to the surface of the water with the ant in the catch legs. This behavior is also noteworthy in that the spider obviously keeps the prey animal, which is no longer visible, in memory.
In order not to slide off the smooth inner walls of the jug like the prey insects and fall into the catching liquid, the spider builds a network of safety threads on the inner walls of the jug.
swell
literature
- C. Clarke: Nepenthes of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu, 1997, p. 39.
- S. Heimer: Wonderful world of spiders. Urania-Verlag, Leipzig 1988, ISBN 3-332-00210-4 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Joseph KH Koh: A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders. Singapore, 2000. online
- ^ Stacey Doornenbal: Fishing spiders . Canterbury, Volume 3, Issue 2, 2006: p. 13 full text as pdf
