What if I asked you to imagine a mum Spider caring for her babies? You’d probably think of a dainty egg case hanging from a wall (like in Charlotte’s Web), or maybe a Spider wrapping up insects in silk for her babies to slurp up once they hatch.
But what if I told you that there’s a unique species who goes the extra mile – a milky mile?
That’s right. This Spider can make milk.
SO, DOES SHE HAVE TINY UDDERS OR…?
Researchers were studying the Toxeus magnus Spider in their dense silk homes trying to understand their nesting behavior. They found out that Spiderlings would grow even if they didn’t leave the nest or if the mothers didn’t bring back food for them to eat!
According to an interview with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, lead author Zhanqi Chen observed a juvenile Spider attaching and feeding from the abdomen of the mother. They even saw the juveniles feeding well after they’re able to find food on their own.
It was tricky to observe this as they only fed at night and deep in the silken nest, but Chen’s team was able to do this at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
This continued care for offspring is a trait that we often associate with mammals, but it looks like this Spider takes great care of her kids, too. While it’s not critical for the young to be nursed, it ensures that they end up as healthy and strong adults.
SPIDER “MILK”
While not having the exact same composition as milk, the Spider secretes a highly nutritious fluid that has nearly four times the protein of Cow’s milk!
The milk production might have evolved from trophic eggs – these are unviable eggs that the mother produces for new Spiderlings to eat.
Chen shares that the mother-offspring interaction and lactation period is similar to that of mammals. He hopes that people show respect to the tiny creatures, especially the mothers.
This discovery is a wonderful reminder that we shouldn’t assume that Spiders and other invertebrates don’t care for their family as deeply as we and other mammals do. They certainly do in the warmth of their silky little homes.
SPIDER IN ANT COSTUME
You might have noticed that this kind of Spider looks rather odd. In fact, she might look rather Ant-like. That’s because T. magnus is a kind of Ant-mimicking Spider who has a “false waist” and a layer of reflective hairs that copies the color and sheen of an Ant’s body.
They’ll go as far as copy behavior, too. The Spider will walk in the same jittery way that Ants do and even wave their front legs to look like antennae.
3 OTHER ANIMALS WHO PRODUCE MILK WITHOUT MAMMARY GLANDS
PIGEON
These Birds produce a nutritious fluid from their crop!
According to Audobon, crop milk comes from special cells in their throat that their chicks slurp up. (If you’ve ever played Animal Crossing and agreed to having Pigeon milk in your coffee from Brewster, you might want to think again.)
FLAMINGO
Flamingos also produce crop milk for their chicks, which happens to be bright red!
The color comes from carotenoids found in the tiny Shrimp they eat. According to Popular Science, the beak of a Flamingo chick is too underdeveloped for them to feed on Shrimp, so their parent produces red “milk” for them instead.
DISCUS FISH
This type of Fish also produces a kind of mucus secretion that their young eat until they’re about three weeks old. While researching this mucus, François-Étienne Sylvain and Nicolas Derome found out that parents also transmitted their microbiome to their young through the secretion, giving them the lifelong gift of a strong gut.
