Freaky Science Saturday -- Spiders With a Taste For Human Blood!

Once again, I set out with good intentions to do badly needed research on commodities, and end up on an "extreme science" page. So, I thought I'd share. Today's topic: The Vampire Jumping Spider ... the only spider with a taste for human blood!

You may have seen Jumping Spiders before. They come in various shapes and sizes ... some even dress up as ants, which I consider insect mimicry at its most pathetic. I mean, if you're going to be a transvestite arachnid, at least dress up as a Preying Mantis or Whitney Houston.

My until-now favorite Jumping Spider was the one that wears Tom Friedman's Moustache of Understanding. This makes it more qualified to rant about politics than most TV talking heads. I've posted the pictures of both here, and you'll have to admit, the resemblance is eerie. For a better explanation of the Moustache of Understanding, click HERE.

But now I have discovered the Vampire Jumping Spider. It has a taste for human blood, and yet, it has no easy access to human beings – unlike the Camel Spider, which injects people with anesthetic venom, then chew your flesh off. Click here to see a U.S. soldier with a Camel Spider wound. Hey, Jumping Spider, if you want to dress up like other insects, dress up like a Camel Spider – they kick ass!

Anyway, so the Vampire Jumping Spider likes the taste of human blood, but can’t get it (without being squashed). So what does it do? It eats mosquitoes! It seeks out – by sight and by smell – mosquitoes of the Anopheles gambiae family. These mosquitoes are malaria carriers. We want them dead, and the Vampire Jumping Spider is happy to oblige.

The spiders have an overwhelming tendency to eat female mosquitoes already laden with blood. Male mosquitoes are almost never eaten because they do not feed on blood. The spiders can see the mosquito’s belly swell up with blood. And if it’s dark, its unerring sense of smell guides it to its prey.

Here's a photo of a Vampire Jumping Spider eating a mosquito. Ignore the cries of "Help me ... help me ... the spider's going to get me ... ARGH!"

In case you think I'm making all this up, here's the National Geographic page with the whole story: http://tinyurl.com/7zcqv

What does this have to do with the price of gold or silver? Nothing. I just like extreme science and anything that kills mosquitoes. That's why my favorite insect is the skeeter hawk.

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