A spider that uses a spring trap to catch its prey found in Australia

A new species of spider has been discovered in the remote rainforests of northern Australia that weaves a catapult-like silk trap to trap a single ant.

Researchers believe that the nocturnal predator developed a unique hunting method, which is dangerously dangerous – and unusual – for arachnid predators.

The trap’s “extraordinarily high force” forces the ant into a large web with “15 times the most extreme G-forces experienced by jet pilots,” said lead researcher Professor Ajay Narendra.

Although its name has yet to be officially revealed, scientists have nicknamed the tiny spider the “ballista,” an ancient weapon used to throw rocks in battle.

“The trap mechanism seems to have evolved to allow the spider to ‘pick off’ potential predators one by one and move away from ant trails and nests,” said researcher Dr. Jonas Wolff.

Ants have chemical defenses, including the ability to love on some species, and can quickly recruit other ants as backup to defeat predators, Narendra explained.

His team from Australia’s Macquarie University spent 10 nights in tropical forests in north Queensland capturing spider behavior with high-speed and infrared cameras.

According to their findings, published in the journal Current Biology, the ballista spider lives in trees infested with the aggressive and territorial green tree ant Oecophylla smaragdina, where it spends the day in webs hidden under leaves.

After dark, it descends 50 cm to a leaf, branch or forest floor and creates an anchor using a silk line.

It then takes hours to form a cone-shaped “scaffold” by rolling up a thin layer of silk before pulling it back up to form dozens of lines of tension.

In an instant, the scientists found green ants approaching the trap and biting it – causing the trap to spring and the prey to launch into the spider’s web at “high” speed.