Spider

Scientists have named a newly discovered species of worm that kills tarantulas after American actor Jeff Daniels, a distinction no other actor can claim.

An international team of researchers found that the brightly colored jumping spider Saitis barbipes could not see its own vivid reds.

The number of cases of tick-borne illnesses (TBIs) reported annually to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has more than doubled over the past two decades in the United States. An expert panel has developed a set of clinical practice guidelines that recommends low-risk interventions, employable with minimal resources, to help reduce the number of TBIs.

Although many people lose their nerve and panic when they see a spider, only very few of the creatures are actually dangerous. The black widow, however, is a force to be reckoned with: it catches its prey by means of nerve poison -- to be precise, latrotoxins (LaTXs). Researchers have now investigated the substance -- also with a view to medical applications.

The tiny male golden orb-weaving spider faces a considerable challenge when searching for a mate. He is a fraction of the size of the massive female, but must carefully enter her web and approach her without being noticed, because the cannibalistic female will kill and eat him if he makes one wrong move on her web. Add to this gamble the competition he faces from other males also on the delicate arena of the web, and you have a complex optimization problem that even human analysts would find […]