A tarantula and its pet frog

You might be surprised to learn that microhylids, a narrow mouthed frog located in Peru, India, Sri Lanka and perhaps elsewhere have developed close relationships with large spiders.

^ the match made in heaven

A close association between the Dotted humming frog and the burrowing theraphosid tarantula suggests that the spider – well capable of killing and eating a frog of this size – uses chemical cues to attract the frogs. Young spiders have sometimes been observed to grab the frogs, examine them with their mouth parts, and then release them unharmed.

The frog presumably benefits by receiving protection: small frogs like this are preyed on by snakes and large arthropods, yet this frog is protected by a formidable spider bodyguard. It must be nice for him to get that protection, don't you think? It'd be like being 5 foot tall and having a best friend who is 6 foot 4, intimidating, but beneficial when it comes to conflict.

This works the other way too as the spider seems to benefit in that the frogs eat the ants that might ordinarily attack the spider’s eggs. Due to their small size, ants are presumably difficult for the spiders to deal with, and they might be effectively helpless against them. So, both the frogs and the tarantulas seem to benefit from the association of their ‘partner’.

^ the friends seen sitting in close proximity with each other and showing no signs of aggression.