Wheel spider
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The wheel spider or golden wheel spider (Carparachne aureoflava), is a huntsman spider native to the Namib Desert of Southern Africa. This spider is distinct from Leucorchestris arenicola, a spider sharing the same common name and found in the same locale.[1] The spider escapes parasitic pompilid wasps by flipping onto its side and cartwheeling down sand dunes at speeds of up to 44 turns per second.[2][3]
Characteristics
Wheel spiders are up to 20 mm in size, with males and females the same size. The wheel spider does not make a web; it is a nocturnal, free-ranging hunter, coming out at night to prey on insects and other small invertebrates. Its bite is mildly venomous, but the spider is not known to be harmful to humans.[4]
Its principal line of defence against predation is to bury itself in a silk-lined burrow extending 40–50 cm deep. During the process of digging its burrow, the spider can shift up to Script error: No such module "convert". of sand, 80,000 times its body weight. It is during the initial stages of building a burrow that the spider is vulnerable to pompilid wasps, which sting and paralyze the spider, then lay eggs in its body. If the spider is unable to fight off a wasp, and if it is on a sloped dune, it will use its rolling speed of Script error: No such module "convert". to escape.[5]
References
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Further reading
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External links
- Template:Replace on YouTubeScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., featuring a rolling golden wheel spider