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Spider Creates Nature's Most Powerful Catapult
Newser • • world
Key Points:
- Researchers from Macquarie University discovered a spider that uses its web as a high-powered catapult to capture green ants, flinging them into its web with extreme force.
- The spider's web snaps with a power 15 times greater than the highest g-forces experienced by jet pilots, effectively immobilizing the ant.
- This spider uniquely targets only green ants, possibly using chemical lures in the web to attract them, and does not prey on other species even when available.
- The web's energy storage and power output surpass those of any known biological catapult, evolved to safely capture dangerous ants before they can call for backup.
- Unlike typical spider webs triggered by the predator, this web's mechanism is activated by the prey itself, making it a rare example of specialized prey capture behavior.
