The spider that dressed up as the thing that eats spiders
The News
In the Ecuadorian Amazon, scientists discovered a brand-new spider — Taczanowskia waska — that disguises itself as a parasitic fungus called Gibellula , which normally GROWS on dead spiders. The disguise is so convincing that trained bug scientists thought it was a mushroom. The species was first spotted from a photo posted on the citizen-science app iNaturalist.
Professor Pip crouched low on a mossy log, his bushy tail curled neatly behind him, magnifying glass raised in one paw. "Ssshhh," he whispered to the children behind him. "Look very carefully. Do you see it?"
The kids leaned in. On the side of the log, a small curling tan-and-white shape stuck up like a tiny twisted mushroom.
"That's a mushroom," whispered Asha.
"Mmm," said Professor Pip, tail swishing. "That is what it WANTS you to think." He grinned, his crooked spectacles slipping down his nose. "Watch."
He tapped the log gently with one claw. The "mushroom" twitched — and suddenly eight legs unfolded. The children gasped! It was a SPIDER, pretending to be a mushroom.
"Oh my whiskers!" squealed Mia.
"This little fellow is called Taczanowskia waska," said Pip proudly. "Scientists found him brand-new in the Amazon rainforest. And here's what makes him special — he is pretending to be a parasitic fungus called Gibellula. A fungus that normally GROWS on spiders!"
"Wait," said Leo, scrunching his face. "A spider… pretending to be the thing that EATS spiders?"
"Precisely!" Pip clapped his paws. "It's the funniest trick a scientist could imagine. If a hungry bird flies by and sees what looks like a Gibellula sprout, the bird thinks, 'Yuck. Old moldy spider. Pass.' And our little Taczanowskia just stays still, holding his disguise, hidden in plain sight."
He pulled out his pocket notebook and pencil. "This trick has a name. It's called mimicry — when one creature copies the look of another to fool predators. Stick insects do it. Some moths do it. Even some snakes do it."
He pointed at the spider's pale curling abdomen. "Look at how his body is shaped just like a fungus sprout. He even hangs out on the underside of leaves — the exact same spot where the real fungus grows. He's not just borrowing the costume. He's chosen the right STAGE."
"It's like when I wear my big brother's hoodie and pretend I'm him!" said Asha.
"Exactly right!" laughed Pip. "Only this little spider has been practicing for millions of years."
Pip stood up slowly, careful not to disturb the disguise. "And here's the curiouser-and-curiouser part. The scientists nearly missed him — even trained bug scientists thought he was a mushroom! It took someone with a phone, taking a photo on a nature app, to notice the 'mushroom' had little eyes. That's how this whole new species was discovered."
He smiled at the children. "Now I wonder — next time you walk in your garden, see if you can find a creature pretending to be something else. A moth pretending to be a leaf. A bug pretending to be a stick. Nature is full of master actors. You just have to look very, very slowly."
Spark a Conversation
- If you could disguise yourself as anything in nature, what would you choose — and what would it protect you from?
- Why might pretending to be something a bird DOESN'T want to eat be safer than just hiding behind a leaf?
- The spider was discovered from a photo on a phone app. What would you photograph in your backyard that nobody else might notice?