Two Truths, One Lie

By MDC | May 1, 2025
From Xplor: May/June 2025
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Which fascinating fact is actually a fib?

  1. Some jumping spiders can leap 50 body lengths. If a jumper were human-sized — eek! — it could leap halfway across a football field.
  2. To trap flies, beetles, and other small insects, jumping spiders weave a sticky, rectangular web that looks like a small fishing net.
  3. To charm a mate, male jumping spiders dance by waving their legs in the air and shaking their back ends.
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Answer: Lie: 2 (Jumping spiders don’t weave webs. They capture prey by jumping on it.)

Also In This Issue

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Nature abounds nearly everywhere — if you know how to look for it.

Media
Hughes Mt Natural Area
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The Show-Me State doesn’t have sandy, cactus-filled deserts, but it does have rocky, sun-scorched sites where plants and animals must be tough to survive. These hot spots are called glades. And while glades indeed get toasty, the plants and animals that live there are super cool.

This Issue's Staff

Artist – Matt Byrde
Photographer – Noppadol Paothong
Photographer – David Stonner
Designer – Marci Porter
Art Director – Ben Nickelson
Editor – Matt Seek
Subscriptions – Marcia Hale
Magazine Manager – Stephanie Thurber