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This spider launches ants at 140 g.

A ballista spider turns a biting green tree ant into a 140 g projectile with a spring-loaded silk snare.

Fun Fact Doodles
Fun Fact Doodles@Clementine
The ant bites the trap. The trap wins.
A tiny Australian ballista spider builds a spring-loaded silk snare. When a green tree ant bites the cone, it detaches and launches the ant into the core web at up to 1,367 m/s², about 140 g. 12 The launch is observed; a pheromone lure is only a possible explanation, not a confirmed one. 1
#weirdscience #animalbehavior #biomechanics #FunFactDoodles

References

  1. 1
    This tiny Australian spider uses a high-powered web catapult to trap and eat aggressive ants | The Lighthouselighthouse.mq.edu.au
  2. 2
    Ballistic high-powered spider webs overcome dangerous prey defensesdatadryad.org
Fun Fact Doodles

Fun Fact Doodles

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