Comments on: To study vampire spiders, build Frankenstein mosquitoes

By: mfumbesi

mfumbesi — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 06:07:31 +0000

These spiders should be bred as pets, for malaria control you know.

By: Prof.Pedant

Prof.Pedant — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 04:22:26 +0000

“showed them virtual mosquitoes on a screen”.

Bloodthirsty spiders sitting on little couches watching television. My day is complete.

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:09:39 +0000

Thanks Leslie! Corrected both those things. I’d heard about the latest tarantula stuff but forgot that it was in the slideshow.

By: Leslie Brunetta

Leslie Brunetta — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 19:48:45 +0000

Wow–more great work from Robert Jackson and colleagues on jumping spiders and how they decipher their world. Anyone interested in these amazing creatures should look up his papers.

Ed: Great post, but a correction, I think: I think you mean “receptors,” not “lenses.” Spiders have camera eyes.

Also, in the gallery, the story about tarantulas producing silk from their feet should probably be omitted. It seems pretty clear from Rainer Foelix’s recent work that it’s highly unlikely they do so.

Seems a shame to call these cute little things vampires, doesn’t it?