Unusual way mysterious Australian jumping spider makes itself invisible
Across eastern Australia and backyards in Sydney a small, mysterious jumping spider is making itself invisible from prospective predators.
And for the first time scientists have observed a strange camouflaging behaviour by the spider, Arasia mullion.
Scientists monitored and measured over 115 spiders and 554 silk retreats and published their findings in PeerJ.
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The A. mullion constructs elaborate silk retreats from the bark of tree trunks. Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio
They found Arasia mullion "decorate the silk retreats with bark debris that they collect from the immediate surrounding".
The insects carve a piece of bark from the tree they are nesting in and repurpose it for their nests.
On Youtube, study author Alfonso Aceves said the insects effectively make an "invisibility blankie".
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Frontal view of an A. mullion's silk retreat on the trunk's surface where scarring from debris collection is visible. Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio
"We found that Arasia mullion led a sedentary life on the surface of tree trunks, where they build, decorate, and occupy their silk retreats," study authors wrote.
"The retreats were exclusively built over a dimple on the exposed surface of tree trunks."
Arasia mullion were only discovered in 2002 and it's thought they are be endemic to New South Wales.
Very little is known about their behaviour.
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