A nocturnal spider native to the Erg Chebbi Desert in Morocco has an acrobatic solution to escape danger. Cebrennus rechenbergi, one of the ten most fascinating species in 2015, can cartwheel! It belongs to the Sparassidae family of spiders that are synonymous with speed and often known as huntsmen, Nicknamed “flicflac” by Dr Peter Jager of Senckenberg Research Institute, who identified the spider, it performs acrobatic flips in the air which resemble cartwheels. It can jump 6.6 feet per second, enabling it to move two times faster than it can when simply walking.
The Moroccan flic-flac spider is nocturnal and is known to feed on moths before sunrise. It spends the hot desert days in its cool burrow in the sand protected from the sun and predators. The spider creates its dwelling with its pedipalps (feelers) and bristles, forming long, vertical tubes out of sand and silk. Using a series of rapid, acrobatic flic-flac movements of its legs similar to those used by gymnasts, the spider is able to actively propel itself off the ground, allowing it to move both down and uphill, even at a 40 percent incline. This behavior is different than other huntsman spiders, such as Carparachne aureoflava from the Namib Desert, which uses passive cartwheeling as a form of locomotion. The flic-flac spider can reach speeds of up to 2 m/s using forward or back flips to evade threats.
Picture Credit : Google
