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Ballista Spider

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science3 hours ago•188 min saved

Australian ballista spider uses silk spring trap to hurl ants into its web

Researchers describe a newly found Australian spider, nicknamed the ballista spider, that builds a spring-loaded, cone-shaped silk trap to launch the green tree ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) into its main web. The 5–6 mm spider braids 15–60 tension lines into a cone attached to the surface; when an ant bites the cone, the silk detaches and snaps shut, flinging the ant upward with extreme speed and energy. The spider appears to specialize on this single prey species, suggesting a highly specialized evolutionary adaptation, and researchers captured the behavior in Cape York Peninsula using high-speed cameras.

via CNN|

#australia-rainforest #ballista-spider #green-tree-ant

science19 hours ago•3 min saved

Australia's ballista spider hurls silk snare to ambush aggressive ants

A team describes the ballista spider (Propostira sp.) from Cape York, Australia, which builds a spring-loaded conical snare that is triggered by the green tree ant (Oecophylla smaragdina). The spider yanks ants into its core web at accelerations up to 1,367 m/s^2, then wraps and consumes them. The silk snare stores about 78 kJ per kilogram and can deliver roughly 11.7 MW of power, outperforming other known biological catapults. This extreme prey specialization and predation mechanism may rely on pheromones to attract the ants and represents a remarkable biomechanical adaptation.

via The Conversation|

#ballista-spider #biomechanics #green-tree-ant