Anyone who has tried to build castles in dry
sand knows the challenges desert digging spiders face. Because the grains
don’t stick together, it’s hard to dig a burrow and keep its walls from
collapsing. Even so, the "flic-flac" spider, Cebrennus rechenbergi—famous because it can cartwheel
quickly across the desert—builds a tunnel 25 centimeters deep and uses it daily
for shelter from Morocco's hot sun. Likewise, its neighbor, a newly discovered
wolf spider called Evippomma
rechenbergi makes tunnels, too. Yet they use
different tactics, researchers report this week in the Journal of Arachnology.
The flic-flac spider picks the right spot to dig, then pushes sand together and
scoops it up in a basket formed by fine bristles that overlap. Lacking these
bristles, the wolf spider instead glues sand particles together by connecting
the grains with fine silk threads.
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