Going by the findings of a recent research published in the journal Current Biology, the Bagheera kiplingi spider, which is mostly found in Central America and Mexico, is apparently the first- known predominantly 'vegetarian' spider which feasts on acacia plants.

Among all of the other known 40,000 species of carnivorous spiders, the Bagheera kiplingi's herbivorous diet was first discovered in 2001 in Costa Rica by Eric Olsen from Brandeis University. However, the behavior was independently observed again in 2007 by Christopher Meehan, who was then an undergraduate Villanova University student.

It was during field studies that Meehan spent time watching a jumping spider on an acacia plant. The plant was abundant with ants - both of these two exhibit 'mutualism,' whereby the ants protect the plant which, in turn, produces nutritious leaf tips for the ants - and Meehan thought that the spider would "prey on an ant."

However, Meehan was surprised to find that the spider darted around the ants and plucked off a leaf tip, a Beltian body full of proteins!

Further observations and isotopic analyses revealed that the Bagheera kiplingi eats more Beltian bodies than ants - particularly in Mexico, where nearly 90 percent of the spider's diet is comprised of plant tissue.

According to Meehan, the behavior of Bagheera kiplingi is an example of one organism craftily exploiting a mutualism between two others!