the vegetarian spider is adorable and now you all have to hear about it

so me and a friend were talking about spiders and what they eat, and she was wondering if there were vegetarian spiders, and she decided to google them, and GUESS WHAT.

there is one spider in the whole world that is vegetarian, and it is the best spider in the whole world.

it eats little nodes from the leaf-tips on acacia plants, almost exclusively.

the family it is part of, salticids, are all jumping spiders. they have ludicrously sharp vision, incredible reflexes, and the ability to jump large distances. they are incredibly efficient hunters. so what do they do with all these mad skillz you ask?

they engage in ludicrously over the top metal-gear-solid–styled shenanigans to evade the acacia trees’ rabid ant guards. then they nab a blob of acacia food and ollie right back out

they are also beautiful, flamboyant, and incredibly social. they’re not social to co-operate, like other spiders hunt together. they are just social because they hang out. you can get hundreds of spiders on one tree, taking turns guarding nests, living together with their spider babies, and doing ridiculous stunts over the heads of ant armies.