spider

Spiders Use Electric Fields to Fly, And We May Finally Know How

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Having never evolved wings, many species of spider instead evolved an uncanny ability to take to the skies using nothing more than a few short threads of gossamer dangling from their dainty butts.   Just how this invertebrate answer to paragliding works has never been entirely clear, though historically biologists have assumed it probably has … Read more

Spiders Caught Hunting in Giant Synchronized Swarms, And Now We Know How

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Pack hunting spiders exist in places other than your nightmares. While most spiders enjoy solitary lives, 20 of the roughly 50,000 known spider species live in colonies. One species, Anelosimus eximius, lives in extremely large colonies of up to 1,000 individual spiders that work together to build webs spanning several meters.   When prey falls into their … Read more

This Huge Yellow Spider Could Spread Across The US Seaboard in No Time at All

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Say hello to the Jorō spider (Trichonephila clavata), an arachnid you’re likely to be seeing a lot more of in the future if you live on the East Coast of the US. New research suggests the distinctive black-and-yellow creature – currently flourishing in the state of Georgia – is unlikely to face any barriers in … Read more

Spider webs may act as most sensitive ‘ears’ in the known natural world

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The bridge spider (Larinioides sclopetarius) uses its web to detect the sounds made by insects flying nearby and prepare itself for a potential meal Life 11 February 2022 By Carissa Wong A female bridge spider (Larinioides sclopetarius) Shutterstock/Dan Olsen Some spiders can pick up sounds in the air using their webs as acoustic antennae, and because … Read more

How The Venom of The King Baboon Spider Could Help Us Better Understand Chronic Pain

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If you ever come across a king baboon spider (Pelinobius muticus), which lives primarily in Tanzania and Kenya, keep your distance: Its bite and the associated venom aren’t fatal but do produce a lot of pain and itchiness that can last for days.   Scientists think they have worked out why the spider’s venom is … Read more

This Adorable Jumping Spider Can’t Actually See Its Own Most Vivid Color

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Jumping spiders may have exceptional eyes, but one adorable species seems to have a curious lack in the vision department. New experimental evidence suggests that a jumping spider called Saitis barbipes has no photoreceptors capable of perceiving the color red.   What makes this so strange is that S. barbipes – like many jumping spiders … Read more

New tarantula species: YouTuber finds new-to-science tarantula that lives in bamboo stems

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A species of tarantula seems to live exclusively inside hollow bamboo stems, which no other tarantula is known to do 18 January 2022 By Jake Buehler Taksinus bambus – a tarantula that lives inside bamboo JoCho Sippawat Tarantulas make their homes everywhere from dusty desert burrows to a rainforest canopy. Now, researchers have discovered a … Read more

Fossils: Spider remains shed light on Australia’s ancient rainforest ecosystem

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A suite of plant and animal fossils from a site in New South Wales date back about 16 million years to a time when the region was blanketed in lush rainforests Life 7 January 2022 By Chen Ly Fossil of a mygalomorph spider from the McGraths Flat, Australia Michael Frese An immaculately preserved fossil of … Read more