Yes, you got it right: pets for spiders! That’s no Disney movie; that’s the truth. In South America, Goliath Birdeaters keep little frogs as pets.
Why would they do that? Well, while the mother leaves its unprotected brood alone to find some unlucky bird for her breakfast, its poor children could become a snack for the next ant that passes by. What a pity. That’s when the frog guard comes into play, because it loves to devour these little creepy-crawlies. In return for his services, spider mama protects him from other predators.
The weird thing about this is: bird spiders don’t usually eat birds, even though their name implies otherwise. They would rather eat worms, cockroaches, little snakes and…frogs!
An exception to this is the Chiasmocleis ventrimaculata, which is the scientific name for our lucky frog. Maybe it looks so harmless that the spider feels sorry for it 🙂 Or perhaps its mouth is perfectly shaped for the consumption of all kinds of ants?
Copyright and source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiasmocleis_ventrimaculata,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombian_lesserblack_tarantula, http://www.isopoda.net/photo-stories/reportage-weird-nature/16-a-forests-tale-the-spider-and-the-frog-
