the world is truly horrifying and this may be horrifying for some of you (tw: spiders and frogs) but one of the things that is truly uplifting to me is symbiotic relationships between animals (used loosely here):
"In Peru, India, Sri Lanka and perhaps elsewhere [microhylid frogs] have developed close relationships with large spiders. It has been suggested that the spider – well capable of killing and eating a frog of this size – used chemical cues to recognise the frogs. Young spiders have sometimes been observed to grab the frogs, examine them with their mouthparts, and then release them unharmed. Microhylids are probably unpalatable due to their skin toxins, and this might explain how this association arose in the first place
The frog seemed to benefit from living in proximity to the spider by eating the small invertebrates that were attracted to prey remains left by the spider. The frog presumably also 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 who might gain benefit from the presence of the frog: microhylids specialise on eating ants, and ants are one of the major predators of spider eggs. By eating ants, the microhylids might help protect the spider’s eggs."
It has been observed that this particular frog and spider exist in situations completely independent of each other; they both can benefit from their relationship, but neither are dependent on it to survive. It seems that they consciously make the decision to join up in this mutually profitable pairing and that weird friendship makes things seem a little less horrifying.