The Alluring Power Of Blood in Spiders.

What drives a jumping spider wild? A certain fragrance among members of the opposite sex, apparently, that is acquired by eating blood. That is the finding of a study of the jumping spider Evarcha culicivora by Fiona R. Cross and Robert R. Jackson of the University of Canterbury and Simon D. Pollard of the Canterbury Museum, all in Christchurch, New Zealand. E. culicivora, which are found in East Africa, have an unusual food preference: female Anopheles mosquitoes, but only those that have gorged themselves on the blood of mammals or other vertebrates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]