Scientists discovered that the Australian “ballista spider” uses a silk cone trap to catapult prey into its web, a feat of spider engineering never before observed.

Newly discovered, the ballista spider rests underneath a leaf during the day. Scientists have witnessed the spider build a ...

Building these strong yet ephemeral traps is a process that follows patterns shared among spider species. But is there room ...

A spider living in the rainforests of Queensland, Australia, builds a snare trap reminiscent of a Roman-era ballista weapon that it uses to catapult green tree ants into a web 30 centimetres above ...

There’s more than one way a spider can spin its web. Some construct large vertical orb webs, while others build horizontal sheet webs or tangled cobwebs that ensnare crawling insects. There’s also ...

Sometimes fireflies shouldn’t follow the light. A single flash from a female usually helps male Abscondita terminalis fireflies find her among tall grasses at dusk. Males are showier, giving off ...

Scientists have officially brought genetic engineering to the spider's web. For the first time, researchers have created a gene-edited spider that spins red fluorescent silk. Led by a team at the ...

Why scientists call it the 'ballista spider' The spider gets its nickname from the ballista, an ancient Roman siege engine designed to launch projectiles over long distances. Researchers say the ...

Researchers have found evidence that a common North American spider species alters its webs to deal with urban noise pollution. By Joshua Rapp Learn There’s nothing worse than a noisy neighbor when ...