High-speed cameras have revealed how jumping spiders use a dragline of silk to stabilise themselves mid-air and control their landings.
Slow-motion footage revealed the spiders used their silk draglines to stabilise their bodies and to brake, enabling them to land poised and ready to pounce on prey.
The discovery, the scientists say, could inspire new robot design.
Kai-jung Chi, from National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan, and her colleagues investigated the jumping ability of Adanson's house spider, a common arachnid that jumps when it hunts, in order to surprise its prey.
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