MAY 13, 2019
by Issam
Ahmed
A study
published Monday has found that at least one arachnid species is capable of
winding up its web to store up elastic energy, before releasing its grip and
catapulting itself at furious speed toward its unsuspecting prey The ability to
store and amplify muscular energy in external devices like bows, bolt-throwers
and catapults was long thought to be unique to humans. Now, though, we can add
the triangle-weaver spider, or Hyptiotes
cavatus, to the list, according to a study published Monday, May 13, 2019
that describes how the creature winds up its web to launch itself at prey.
Just when
you thought spiders couldn't get any more terrifying.
A study
published Monday has found that an arachnid species is capable of winding up
its web to store up elastic energy, before releasing its grip and catapulting
itself at furious speed toward its unsuspecting prey.
The
development places the triangle-weaver spider, or Hyptiotes cavatus, alongside humans as the other known species to
amplify muscular energy with external devices, a feat people achieve with
crossbows or ballistae.
Researcher
Sarah Han, a doctoral student at the University of Akron in Ohio, said she had
been intrigued by the spider during her walks in the woods.
"It did
this interesting mechanism while hunting we didn't really know that much
about," she told AFP. "People had written about it in an
observational way, but no one had quantified it."
Han and
colleagues observed the spiders under lab conditions, recording high-speed
videos of them as they hunted flies.
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