Spiders use tricks to trap ants

Most spiders prefer to eat moths and mosquitoes. However, a small number of species prefer ants, and one spider in particular uses clever acrobatic tricks to prey on them. A new study has found that one spider in Australia, the Euryopis umbilicata, uses a combination of speed and flips to distract ants, then traps and eats them. To conduct their research, the scientists inspected eucalyptus trees, where the spiders live. They discovered 181 dead ants covered in the spiders’ silk thread. Next, the researchers set up a high-speed video camera and placed ants on the trees. They observed that when a spider detected an ant, it would instantly flip its body over the ant while attaching a silk thread to it. The spider would then circle the ant with thread…

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The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 131

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