1071
Spider cats
(mander.xyz)
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
So it looks like the frogs mentioned in this meme are microhylids, and for some further info:
This is also super cute behaviour:
Apparently the spiders’ protectiveness can also be pretty overt:
And some ideas on why this might be an example of mutualistic behaviour rather than commensalism:
Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/tetrapod-zoology/tiny-frogs-and-giant-spiders-best-of-friends/
Spiders grabbing frogs and releasing them is like humans grabbing their cats and going for snuggles
Imagine being that poor bull frog. "Hey buddy, put on this tiny frog-shaped skin suit. We're gonna drop you in a pit with tarantulas and see if they eat you. We think they won't, on account of the skin suit you see, but, you know, science"
"Yes, we'll drop you into a pit with a gigantic predator on whose menu you usually take the top spot, BUT it might just be fine, since we'll wrap you in the remains of another frog we flayed so that you can wear its skin."