In fact, this newly discovered species, which scientists are calling the ballista spider, hunts green tree ants exclusively ...

Flung prey can reach speeds of up to 14.4 feet per second, or a little less than ten miles per hour. An insect will land in the spider's main web about a foot above the spring-loaded trap ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Close-up of weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina), weaver ants or rangrang ants, macro weaver ants in a green foliage© ...

In an unprecedented example of hunting specialisation, the ballista spider has evolved a silk-powered snare that targets just one species of ant, launching its prey into the air with astonishing power ...

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(CNN) — When most silk-spinning spiders hunt, they build a web and wait for prey to blunder into it. But a newly discovered species from Australia instead uses its silk to craft a spring-loaded, ...

The spider has been nicknamed the "ballista" for the speed and force with which it flings prey into its web A new species of spider which weaves a catapult-like silk trap to snare a single type of ant ...

Weaver ants are arboreal ants distributed in South Asia and Australia, and are known to secrete a venom primarily composed of formic acid and to be extremely ferocious and aggressive. The Australian ...

A ballista spider (Propostira sp.) waits for a green tree ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) to bite the cone of its web and thus spring the snare Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Newly discovered, the ballista spider rests underneath a leaf during the day. Scientists have witnessed the spider build a trap ...

Close-up of weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina), weaver ants or rangrang ants, macro weaver ants in a green foliage© Faisal.k/Shutterstock.com Scientists have discovered a spider species deep in the ...