Scientists may have solved a mystery about one of natures most imposing creepy crawlies: tarantulas.
There are about 1,100 known species of tarantula, which can be found throughout the world.
According to the researchers, these cross-species partnerships have been seen across nine subfamilies of tarantulas.
A Mexican Red Knee Tarantula© Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty
The teams findings werepublishedlast month in theJournal of Natural History.
It seems that tarantulas might not be as scary and threatening as their reputation suggests.
Zamani and his team also identified an especially complex relationship between some tarantulas and species of army ants.
The dense hair covering the tarantulas body makes it difficult for the ants to bite or sting the spider.
Therefore, we believe that the hairiness may have evolved as a defense mechanism.
The tarantulas typically release these barbed hairs as a defense mechanism, deterring and sometimes even killing their attackers.
More research will be needed to confirm these findings, as well as other fascinating aspects of these arachnids.
Either way, it just goes to show that theres still so much to learn about our many-legged neighbors.
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