Researchers have uncovered a unique hunting strategy of a slingshot spider or ray spider (Theridiosoma gemmosum). These stealthy hunters launch their "ballistic web" at unsuspecting prey. The ...

The tiny ray spider uses launches its web to grab its prey out of the air. Though common practice in the superhero world, this ability is actually... Slingshot spiders rely on good vibrations to catch ...

However, in 2021, biophysicists Saad Bahmla from Georgia Institute of Technology and Todd Blackledge from the University of Akron and their colleagues discovered that they could trick the spiders into ...

Researchers have finally figured out how slingshot spiders (Theridiosoma gemmosum) are so accurate when they fire their webs at prey. Everything from the timing to the angle at which they fire their ...

"Slingshot spiders are really tiny, so they can be quite hard to find," recalls Han, who spent a lot of time on local riverbanks peering into crevices and rocks for the distinctive cone-shaped webs ...

Entomologist Sarah Han has always been into spiders. "I grew up in California and there are a lot of black widows," says Han. "I would keep them as pets. One day, one of them escaped. That's a mistake ...

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