Slingshot Spider (Theridiosoma gemmosum) They don’t just passively wait for prey to enter their nest. Instead, they take action. These arachnids, also known as spider spiders, form a cone by pulling back the center of their flat web and position themselves at the tip of the cone. Then, hold the net in place by grasping the taut anchor tread and release the line to let the web fly. Then, when the insect passes by, the spider jumps forward and traps the victim in a sticky spiral.
video: A tethered mosquito flapping its wings approaches the spider within the web’s capture cone, triggering a non-contact release. Video is recorded at 500 fps and played back at 30 fps. Adjusted overall brightness and contrast. Credit: Reprinted with permission from The Company of Biologists. SI Han, TA Blackledge (2024). A directional web attack carried out by the spider in response to the vibrations of its prey in the air. J. Exp. Biol. 227, jeb249237 doi:10.1242/jeb.249237.
however, 2021Biophysicist Saad Bumrah of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Todd Blackledge of the University of Akron and their colleagues have discovered that they can trick spiders into releasing their bulletproof nets with just a snap of their fingers.
Blackedge and Sarah Hann, a doctoral student at the University of Akron, now believe they have proven that: slingshot spider They can hear the insect approaching and wait for the victim to come within range before releasing the nest and darting out toward their next snack. For more information on the survey results, please visit The research was conducted on December 4th. Journal of Experimental Biology.
[Related: Spider conversations decoded with the help of machine learning and contact microphones.]
For this purpose new researchHan spent hours on local riverbanks peering through cracks and rocks looking for distinctive conical webs with spiders perched on the tips.
“Slingshot spiders are really small, so they’re very hard to find.” Han said in a statement.. “It takes time to develop their eyes.
Han took the spider back to the lab and prepared twigs on which to build a web. Then she went in search of the spider’s favorite snacks: mosquitoes and flies. Back in the lab, she glued individual insects with their wings free to make flapping noises onto black paper and photographed them as they weaved near a cone-shaped spider web.
The spider flew its web when a flapping mosquito was nearby. However, if you look closely at the video, The insect did not touch the spider’s web with its protruding front legs.. Instead, the slingshot spider was able to set up its nest before the mosquito could touch it.
So Han used a tuning fork that was tuned to the sound of the flies. When she placed it in front of the web, the arachnid still released the web. The researchers believe the spider must have heard the insect approaching. Loosen the nest when the mosquito is close enoughbut before landing on that. Spiders may use sound-sensitive hairs on their legs to listen closely for approaching insects.
video: Mosquitoes that are tied motionless are stimulated and begin to flap their wings. As soon as the mosquitoes begin flapping their wings, the spiders release their webs. Video is recorded at 1000 fps and played back at 30 fps. Adjusted overall brightness and contrast. Credit: Reprinted with permission from The Company of Biologists. SI Han, TA Blackledge (2024). A directional web attack carried out by the spider in response to the vibrations of its prey in the air. J. Exp. Biol. 227, jeb249237 doi:10.1242/jeb.249237.
To find out how fast spiders fly when they release their webs, Han plotted the trajectory of each spider as it rode the web while it tore forward. She said that the web is almost Deter mosquitoes within 38 milliseconds at 1 meter/second (3.2 feet/second). Spider webs fly out too quickly for insects to escape.
Han also notices that there are spiders. Mosquitoes are 76% more likely to release their nests when they are in front of them.. We attempted to release the web only if a mosquito was behind it 29% of the time. The researchers think they might be able to compare how spiders perceive the vibrations of sound traveling through the web to their bodies and through the air to their legs. This will tell you if the insect is in the front or back of the nest, which can help. Avoid costly misfires.
