Bagheera kiplingi
One of a kind
Of the 40,000 species of spider with whom we share our planet only one, so far, is found to be, by preference, a vegetarian. It will, on occassion, eat other small creatures such as ants and other spiders but more than 99 times out of hundred it feeds on acacia nectar and leaf tips. It is surprising that the odd habits of this little spider took so long to come to the attention of science as it is surprisingly common within the Mexican Acacia belt.
Bagheera kiplingi is unusual in more ways than one. I have yet to figure out how a spider which lives in Acacia trees in Mexico should take its name from 'Bagheera', the black leopard in Rudyard Kipling's ' The Jungle Book (and the author too of course).
Vegetarian spider (Bagheera kiplingi) hunts plant prey
This curious little spider has a semi symbiotic relationship with the ants it shares its domain. There is even a suggestion that it may even be quasi-social with its own kind.