American scientists have discovers a spider that feeds almost exclusively on plant food. The findings are significant because of the known approximately 40,000 species of spiders in the world, all were thought to be strict predators.

The researchers with Villanova University and Brandeis University, said the spider, the Bagheera kiplingi, lives throughout Central America and southern Mexico.

The spider is found in several species of acacia shrubs that are guarded by ants. The spiders are able to eat the nectar of the plant and its leaf tips through an act of “active avoidance” of the ants, the researchers said in a statement.

Although roughly 90 percent of the food eaten by the spiders observed in Mexico was derived from plants, these spiders also supplemented their diets with animal food, including ant larvae.

The study appears in the Oct. 13 issue of Current Biology.

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That wacky mob PETA, fresh from “flouring” Lindsay Lohan in Paris has sent a letter to BlueCross BlueShield health insurance company in Vermont on behalf of their 2 million members asking that health insurance premiums be raised for meat eaters and reduced for vegetarians.

They state that meat eating is linked to some of America’s “deadliest diseases” and that agreeing to this request will result in the company saving money,  which we all know PETA cares about.

PETA argues that a a cut in insurance premiums would give people an “incentive” to do without meat and that will make them healthier.  The letter also warns of the danger of E coli outbreak.  I would be more worried about catching the outbreak of smug, superiority that normally accompanies being a vegetarian and PETA member.  

BlueCross BlueShield said that discrimination on the grounds of eating preferences was illegal in every state. They obviously didn’t feel the need to add the bit about how they couldn’t give a crap about what PETA thinks anyway.

Via ecosalon

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