Ballistic high-powered spider webs overcome dangerous prey defenses.

Authors

Ajay Narendra, Pranav Joshi, Daniele Liprandi, Gregory J Anderson, Jonas O Wolff

Published in

Current biology : CB. Volume 36. Issue 12. Pages R691-R692. Jun 22, 2026.

Abstract

Predator-prey interactions are a major selective force shaping kinematic performance, driving the evolution of extreme speed and power in animal movements¹. Small animals such as mantis shrimps, trap-jaw ants and slingshot spiders achieve some of the fastest biological movements to capture prey by using latch-mediated spring actuation mechanisms that produce power outputs several orders of magnitude greater than muscle alone^2,3,4. These known power-amplified systems are actively controlled by the predator and act on non-specific prey. Here, we report a unique spring-actuated snare in the Australian ballista spider Propostira sp. that is selectively triggered by the defensive behavior of a specific prey - the green tree ant, Oecophylla smaragdina. We argue that the prey specialization of the ballista spider has driven the evolution of exceptional snare performance. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

PMID:
42330922
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Jun 2026.

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