Baby Jumping Spider Eat Honey

[Nicole C G]

Just wanted to share

 

[douglas weird]

While doing some digging to see if their digestive system could actually process sugars (apparently they can!) I came across another jumping spider that eats plants called Bagheera kiplingi. I always learn something new on this board.

 

[Edan bandoot]

While doing some digging to see if their digestive system could actually process sugars (apparently they can!) I came across another jumping spider that eats plants called Bagheera kiplingi. I always learn something new on this board.

They feed primarily on one species of tree that produces protein buds and they only eat the buds; nature's protein bars.

Not all members of the species are majority herbivorious either, the percent of their diet that is plants depends on the locale.

 

[Nicole C G]

While doing some digging to see if their digestive system could actually process sugars (apparently they can!) I came across another jumping spider that eats plants called Bagheera kiplingi. I always learn something new on this board.

This makes since actually, because the species in the picture is (likely) Bagheera Prosper! Another Bagheera species out of four total Bagheera species. Pretty cool right?

 

[douglas weird]

This makes since actually, because the species in the picture is Bagheera Prosper! Another Bagheera species out of four total Bagheera species. Pretty cool right?

Definitely! I've never heard of them.

 

[Ungoliant]

While doing some digging to see if their digestive system could actually process sugars (apparently they can!) I came across another jumping spider that eats plants called Bagheera kiplingi. I always learn something new on this board.

I read about a study a while back in which mature male jumpers would choose sugar water over plain water. So apparently they can taste and process at least some sugar.

 

[Edan bandoot]

This makes since actually, because the species in the picture is Bagheera Prosper! Another Bagheera species out of four total Bagheera species. Pretty cool right?

*Kiplingi the only known herbivorious one, maybe you can do some testing with your native sp

 

[Nicole C G]

*Kiplingi the only known herbivorious one, maybe you can do some testing with your native sp

I’ve done research about Bagheera Kiplingi, so don’t worry I understand what you mean, then being the only known Jumper to have a primarily herbivorous diet!

 

[Edan bandoot]

I’ve done research about Bagheera Kiplingi, so don’t worry I understand what you mean, then being the only known Jumper to have a primarily herbivorous diet!

Too my knowledge theyre currently the only known species to have a herbivorious diet at all.

 

[Nicole C G]

maybe you can do some testing with your native sp

so I’ve done some testing, (aka putting a small drop of honey in front of everything I see) and I’ve noticed that slings and juveniles tend to take the honey and eat it, but adults totally ignore it. Some even walk overthe drop and continue like nothing is there. I wonder why?
These two took the honey. (I’m unsure of the second one’s species)


This adult female did not

 

[The Snark]

Just to make the herbivorous spider investigation more interesting, there are a heck of a lot of different kinds of honey that can be tested.. Notable differences, sage and buckwheat -less sweet, slightly nutty flavor, mountain -dark and even less sweet, orange tree - extremely sweet and sometimes has a tiny citrus taste-odor. Outside the US, mahogany tree honey - S. America, notably bitter strong flavor, and around here, Frangipani - intensely sweet with a very strong cloying odor that commonly gives people headaches.

 

[Nicole C G]

Just to make the herbivorous spider investigation more interesting, there are a heck of a lot of different kinds of honey that can be tested.. Notable differences, sage and buckwheat -less sweet, slightly nutty flavor, mountain -dark and even less sweet, orange tree - extremely sweet and sometimes has a tiny citrus taste-odor. Outside the US, mahogany tree honey - S. America, notably bitter strong flavor, and around here, Frangipani - intensely sweet with a very strong cloying odor that commonly gives people headaches.

Maybe I’ll go to the store and buy some of those small 50¢ honey sticks and see which are preferred. Do you think maybe putting two drops of one very sweet one less sweet in front of them would be a good test? I don’t think I have enough spiders to test it full-scale, but it would be interesting to see what the results are

 

[The Snark]

Do you think maybe putting two drops of one very sweet one less sweet in front of them would be a good test?

Try extreme difference high contrast honeys if you can find them. In the US the most intensely sweet is Clover. It is a very light color. The least sweet more rich flavor honey is Mountain made from mostly deciduous forest tree flowers. It is much darker in color. There probably is an apiarist near you and they are usually very happy to chat about the different honeys.

A BTW for anyone buying honey. Turn a jar of room temperature honey upside down and watch how slowly the air bubble rises to the top. With pure honey the bubble moves very slowly. It is a very common trick for suppliers to add water to the honey. The bubble test makes it easy to tell them apart.
Around here nearly all honey is about 25-50% water. Besides ripping you off, honey is an excellent medium for botulism spores and the likelihood of them using sterile water is very low.

 

[Edan bandoot]

Allow me to be an editor on your first paper Nicole, so i'll atleast end be an "et al" once in my life

 

[Icey51115]

so I’ve done some testing, (aka putting a small drop of honey in front of everything I see) and I’ve noticed that slings and juveniles tend to take the honey and eat it, but adults totally ignore it. Some even walk overthe drop and continue like nothing is there. I wonder why?

This may not be relevant, but there is a jumping spider that produces so-called "milk" for its young... perhaps only young are interested because they are growing and need the high-energy stuff. The species name is Toxeus Magnus and it is endemic to southeast Asia / Taiwan. It produces a high-protein liquid from its epigastric furrow, which it feeds its young with.

 

[Nicole C G]

This may not be relevant, but there is a jumping spider that produces so-called "milk" for its young... perhaps only young are interested because they are growing and need the high-energy stuff. The species name is Toxeus Magnus and it is endemic to southeast Asia / Taiwan. It produces a high-protein liquid from its epigastric furrow, which it feeds its young with.

(I have confirmed the original spider as Eris militaris, not Bagheera prosper. My mistake.)
Okay so update: it’s not just young. While it is mostly young jumpers, I have gotten an (sub?) adult male Hentzia palmarum male to eat it!

Also a juvenile platycryptus undatus.

And a hentzia juvenile

this adult female platycryptus undatus with two regenerated legs tasted it, but didn’t really drink it.

 

[Jonathan6303]

(I have confirmed the original spider as Eris militaris, not Bagheera prosper. My mistake.)
Okay so update: it’s not just young. While it is mostly young jumpers, I have gotten an (sub?) adult male Hentzia palmarum male to eat it!
View attachment 399837
Also a juvenile platycryptus undatus.
View attachment 399839
And a hentzia juvenile
View attachment 399841
this adult female platycryptus undatus with two regenerated legs tasted it, but didn’t really drink it.
View attachment 399842

This is so exciting. Now the real question is whether it’s good for their diet. Will affect there performance, lifespan. You should probably ketch one and preform the experiment in a closed environment. This way you can constantly keep record. Amazing work