Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SPIDER-WATCHING Madagascar'sspidersarewellworthacloserlook.Younever
knowwhatyoumayfind.Theyshowanincrediblerangeofdesignanddiversity.Keep
aneyeoutfortheiridescentjumpingspiders,thegiantorb-webweaversandthemulti-
coloured lynx spiders. Who knows - you could even find a new species.
Spider-watchinginMadagascarisparticularlyenjoyablebecauseyoucandoitany-
where. Even most hotels have at least one tree or bush in the garden where you can
find extraordinary spiders easily before you even get to the national parks.
There's one impressive invertebrate which you will encounter almost everywhere you
go; all you need do is look up. The huge golden orb-web spiders ( Nephila madagascari-
ensis ) string together massive webs often extending between trees and telephone wires.
Along Fianar's telegraph cables hundreds of Nephilas string their webs together forming
an impressively huge net several hundred metres long! Their silk is so strong that it was
once woven into a fabric; Queen Victoria even had a pair of Nephila silk stockings. For
more spider oddities see the box on Click Here .
BUGS, DRUGS AND LEMURS
John Roff & Len de Beer
A couple of fascinating stories have recently emerged from Madagascar concerning
the relationship between bugs and drugs - and both involve lemurs too.
Thefirstrelatestolemurhygiene.In1996blacklemurs( Eulemurmacaco )werebe-
ingstudiedatLokobeonNosyBeaspartofresearchintoseeddispersal.Amaturefe-
malewasobservedtograbamillipede( Charactopygus sp),biteitandrubthejuicesof
its wounded body vigorously over her underside and tail. While enacting this strange
ritualshehalfclosedhereyesandsalivatedprofuselywithasillygrimaceonherprim-
ate face. She was seen to do this a second time and it is speculated that the toxins in
the millipede serve to protect her against parasites such as mosquitoes. Or maybe she
just needed a fix?
In a relationship that goes the other way, the golden bamboo lemur - a species
unknown to science until 1984 - has developed a startling specialism. These furry
honey-coloured characters avoid competition with other resident species of lemur at
Ranomafanabyfeedingexclusivelyontheshootsof Cephalostachyumviguieri -agi-
ant bamboo that contains about 150mg of cyanide per kilogramme of fresh shoots. In
sodoingeachindividualconsumes12timesthetheoreticallethaldoseforaprimateof
it's size per day - that's enough cyanide to kill three grown men. High concentrations
of this deadly chemical are found in its dung and it turns out that this is the exclusive
foodsourceofaveryspecialised rainforestdungbeetle.Itiscurrentlynotknownhow
either creature manages to survive this poisonous diet, but one thing is fairly certain:
 
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