In honor of Halloween this week, ScienceBloggers are offering some creepy crawlies to intrigue and frighten you. Ed Yong of Not Exactly Rocket Science began spinning the spider web with his fascinating coverage of the Bagheera kiplingi, a "mostly vegetarian" jumping spider found throughout Latin America. Days later, he reported on the recently discovered Nephila kowaci, the world's largest known web-spinning spider, along with a photo of the South African spider at work. And Tuesday, Ed wrote about Evarcha culicivora, an East African species of spider that feasts on mammalian blood--albeit indirectly--by preying on blood-engorged female mosquitoes. Ed reports that University of Canterbury researchers have found "the blood isn't just a meal for the spiders, it's an aphrodisiac too."
- Bagheera kiplingi - the mostly vegetarian spider on Not Exactly Rocket Science
- World's largest web-spinning spider discovered in South Africa on Not Exactly Rocket Science
- Drinking blood makes vampire spider sexier on Not Exactly Rocket Science
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