Wheel spider
{{Short description|Huntsman spider native to the Namib Desert}}
{{for|the cartwheeling spider of Morocco|Cebrennus rechenbergi}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Wheel spider
| image = Carparachne aureoflava 110456212.jpg
| image_caption =
| genus = Carparachne
| species = aureoflava
| authority = Lawrence, 1966
| synonyms =
- Carparachne aureo-flava
}}
The wheel spider or golden wheel spider (Carparachne aureoflava), is a huntsman spider native to the Namib Desert of Southern Africa. This spider is distinct from Leucorchestris arenicola, a spider sharing the same common name and found in the same locale.{{cite web
| title = Carparachne aureoflava | work = ZipcodeZoo.com | publisher = BayScience Foundation, Inc. | date = 2008-08-13 | url = http://zipcodezoo.com/Animals/C/Carparachne_aureoflava/Default.asp
| accessdate = 2009-01-21}} The spider escapes parasitic pompilid wasps by flipping onto its side and cartwheeling down sand dunes at speeds of up to 44 turns per second.{{cite web
| title = The Desert is Alive | work = Living Desert Adventures | year = 2008 | url = http://www.living-desert-adventures.com| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080927162539/http://www.living-desert-adventures.com | archive-date = 2008-09-27 }}
| author=Armstrong, S. | title=Fog, wind and heat - life in the Namib desert | issue = 1725 | date=14 July 1990 | journal=New Scientist | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12717253.800--fog-wind-and-heat--life-in-the-namib-desert-researchers-working-in-one-of-the-worlds-most-hostile-environments-are-discovering-how-scores-of-species-manage-to-survive-but-will-the-research-station-itself-survive-as-namibia-gains-its-independence--.html
| accessdate=2008-10-11 }}
Characteristics
Wheel spiders are up to 20 mm in size, with males and females the same size. The wheel spider does not make a web; it is a nocturnal, free-ranging hunter, coming out at night to prey on insects and other small invertebrates. Its bite is mildly venomous, but the spider is not known to be harmful to humans.{{cite book
| last = Leroy
| first = Astri
|author2=John Leroy
| title = Spiders of Southern Africa
| publisher = Struik Publishers
| year = 2000
| location = Cape Town
| page = 81
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zgxfRnYbiYcC&q=%22golden+wheeling+spider%22&pg=PA81
| isbn = 1-86872-944-3 }}
Its principal line of defence against predation is to bury itself in a silk-lined burrow extending 40–50 cm deep. During the process of digging its burrow, the spider can shift up to {{convert|10|L|gal}} of sand, 80,000 times its body weight. It is during the initial stages of building a burrow that the spider is vulnerable to pompilid wasps, which sting and paralyze the spider, then lay eggs in its body. If the spider is unable to fight off a wasp, and if it is on a sloped dune, it will use its rolling speed of {{convert|1|m/s|ft/s}} to escape.{{Cite news
| editor = Mark Gardiner | title = Feature Creature | newspaper = Gobabeb Times | page = 3 | date = April 2005 | format = PDF
| url = http://www.gobabebtrc.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=3&Itemid=107}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite encyclopedia| publisher=Natural History Museum Bern | encyclopedia=World Spider Catalog|title=Carparachne aureoflava Lawrence, 1966 | url=https://wsc.nmbe.ch/species/34410/Carparachne_aureoflava|version=14.6| doi=10.24436/2|access-date=10 September 2023}}
Further reading
- {{cite journal
| last = Henschel
| first = J.R.
| title = Spiders wheel to escape
| journal = South African Journal of Science
| volume = 86
| pages = 151–152
| date = March 1990
| url=http://the-eis.com/elibrary/sites/default/files/downloads/literature/Spiders%20wheel%20to%20escape.pdf
| issn = 0038-2353 }}
External links
- {{youtube|V4odlo0Afjs|"Animal Olympians: Gymnastics"|link=no}}, featuring a rolling golden wheel spider
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2525560}}