Is there online fraud in the animal world? This is not about money but about life! | Species Chat

We often say that we should be careful of online scams. In the animal world, there are also scammers who use their tricks on the Internet. Portia spiders are a genus in the family Salticidae. They mainly feed on other types of spiders. Hunting spiders is a very dangerous thing. Spiders are predators themselves, and some prey are larger than portia spiders.

Most spiders have poor eyesight (the Salticidae, including the orbicularis spider, is an exception). They rely on the vibrations of the spider web to obtain information, such as insects that hit the web or the opposite sex that attempts to approach. They can be said to be experienced Internet users.

This is also used by the hole spider. It climbs onto the web and carefully moves the web silk, making the spider mistakenly think that prey has entered the web and approach the hole spider. The hole spider will use a variety of different rhythms to move the spider web. If one does not work, it will switch to another. For some spiders, it will also imitate the way male spiders court to move the spider silk to "seduce" female spiders.

Attracting the spider is only the first step. Next, the hole spider will patrol around. The hole spider has good eyesight among spiders, so it can observe the position of the spider on the web and choose the most suitable angle for surprise attack. Finally, the hole spider hangs up with the silk it spits, "bungee jumping" from the sky, and bites the spider's vital point in one fell swoop.

The hole spider is not the only jumping spider that takes a detour to reach its target, but it is the only one that can stick to the circuitous tactic even when it cannot see the target (for example, the spider on the web is covered by something and cannot be seen temporarily). In other words, the hole spider not only pursues the current goal, but also changes the path for the currently invisible goal. This ability is very close to the ability to think. In short, the hole spider is really a very scheming spider.

The illustrations in this article are not scientific illustrations but have undergone certain artistic processing.

Comic script: Calendar Girl

Scientific review: Species Calendar Team

Painting: Chen Pupu

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