YO DAWG I HEAR YOU HATE SPIDERS SO HERE'S A SPIDER THAT BUILDS ITS OWN SPIDERS

sciencehorrors:

This is quite fascinating — a spider that builds fake decoys of larger spiders to scare off potential predators.  There have been other decoy-building spiders discovered, but this is the first one to build decoys that even have legs on them.  It is likely that this is a new species, though we’ll have to wait for the official verdict.  Be sure to see the picture of the decoy at the link!

As if spiders weren’t bad enough, we have spiders that use debris to create spider-shaped decoys to scare away predators! Photo of the species in question’s handiwork:

Just kidding about the spiders being horrible thing, they are essential members of our ecosystems that we rely on for insect control.

Insect control and terrifying dreams.

“Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed? It was a bold question, and one which has ever been considered as a mystery; yet with how many things are we upon the brink of becoming acquainted if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries? I revolved these circumstances in my mind and determined thenceforth to apply myself more particularly to those branches of natural philosophy which relate to physiology. Unless I had been animated by an almost supernatural enthusiasm, my application to this study would have been irksome and almost intolerable. To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death. I became acquainted with the science of anatomy, but this was not sufficient: I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body.” (via A Single-Minded Scientist - Lapham’s Quarterly)
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“Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed? It was a bold question, and one which has ever been considered as a mystery; yet with how many things are we upon the brink of becoming acquainted if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries? I revolved these circumstances in my mind and determined thenceforth to apply myself more particularly to those branches of natural philosophy which relate to physiology. Unless I had been animated by an almost supernatural enthusiasm, my application to this study would have been irksome and almost intolerable. To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death. I became acquainted with the science of anatomy, but this was not sufficient: I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body.”

(via A Single-Minded Scientist - Lapham’s Quarterly)

Source: laphamsquarterly.org