Monsters of Science: How does this spider manage to raise lizards?

Watch how a small spider manages to lift its prey 50 times heavier than it does in the final episode of Monsters of science.

Today: No specific destination, because we will meet a creature that we will meet all over the world. You may have never heard of Theridiidae, but you definitely have already Vent Their most famous actor: the black widow. Yes, Theridiidae SpidersAnd not the least skillful. The latter is gifted with the art of hunting and lace, to the point of being considered true engineers specializing in silk.

Any invention deserves to be dedicated to them in this new episode of Monsters of science ? To find out, you will have to listen to it.

Bêtes de Science, Animal Intelligence Podcast

You don’t have to be a lover of cute cats to agree that animal intelligence is a vast, fascinating, and unrecognized field. Take, for example, did you know that The elephants Are able to differentiate between human languages? One The bird He can remember Hundreds of stashes of its seeds ? Or those dung beetles Use the Milky Way for orientation ? Not that stupid, animals! If these fun facts tickle you nervous cellsWait no more: Explore Episode 1 of Monsters of science, Podcast based on The Chronicle of Natalie MeyerAnd Mary read it from the YouTube channel Curiosity Box. By numbers, we venture to go to the four corners of the world to meet all kinds of amazing animals and their most interesting manners.

Embark on this new adventure!

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you welcome in Monsters of science, The Futura podcast that gives pride of place to animals. Anna Mary and in this new episode, we’ll focus on the smart hunting technique of Théridiidae.

Eight legs, an abundance ofeyes And a hairy body … admit, just pretend you are shivering! True, in appearance, spiders do not have much to please. Although some find them somewhat bland, most people share a disgust that can amount to fear. We may know very well that it is not the little monster that will eat the huge, arachnophobia is still in the top three Phobias Most popular. Because behind them physique The ugly, some spiders are also considered dangerous, and the idea of ​​being bitten by these little monsters has worried humans since the dawn of time. With a spider, it seems that all of the most nightmarish fantasies are allowed: entering our mouths when we sleep, biting, aggressive, poisonous, or able to lay eggs under our skin … the list goes on.

However, few spiders are actually capable of biting us. Their hooks are generally unwilling to pierce our skin, and besides, these eight-legged creatures tend to avoid us rather than jump at us. As for them PoisonIt turns out very rarely dangerous. Of the nearly 50,000 species of spiders known in the world, only about 100 would likely cause a reaction in humans. And of those, only about fifteen would be a really dangerous thing. It’s not enough to throw your shoes across the living room when you come across one in your own corner. Passed. However, spiders are still great predators. And if they make you shiver, know that they embody sacred allies for your interiors, and are able to get rid of mosquitoes more effectively than pesticides … to hunt their prey, they design tremendously effective hunting tools, and marvel at the technology and architecture that we simply call spider webs. And in the case we’re interested in today, you’ll see that these don’t just play the role of a simple adhesive mesh.

Theridiidae form a large family of spiders that includes more than 3,000 different species. Its most famous representative is the sulfur black widow, which is a graceful, dark-body spider that features a bright red stripe. Its sting can be painful at times, but rarely remains fatal. If one day you felt paleness when you heard about a poisonous bite, then do not worry: after the smaller victims these spiders get infected; And to catch them, they developed an intelligent system. In fact, our Theridiidae don’t necessarily expect prey to fly straight into its nets. Instead, you do your shopping on the ground floor. For this purpose, it extends discreet silk threads between its fabric and the floor, which it serves as a door bell Alarm, a little like The laser Red in spy movies! When prey inadvertently releases one of these invisible traps, the vibration It gives the alarm and tells the spider that it is time to take action. Then she began to produce large quantities of silk, which she extended for a long time with her small claws, like marshmallows. why ? To make it flexible, imagine, and you will quickly understand why.

After attaching one end of this sticky, flexible silk to its web, the spider descends along the cable toward its prey, holding the other end between its legs. Then hold it to from His victim, then repeated the process several times, hitting the flexible cables between his home and his future meal. After a while, the tension becomes so strong that an ant, a cockroach, or even a lizard completely takes off from the ground and finds itself at the mercy of an acrobat who injects it with a paralyzing toxin. And jumped, home delivery! Yes, because we told you about small victims, but thanks to this strategy, these spiders are still able to hunt prey up to 50 times heavier than them. Excuse me a little!

To achieve all the work, these spiders are in lace and must learn to make and weave all kinds of nets to house or set traps or rubber bands to catch their prey. A true achievement of craftsmanship … the spit. So, this is not stupid, Theridiidae!

Thanks for watching this episode from Monsters of science. You can find the original record for Natalie Meyer On Futura, Podcasts on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Podcast and many more. Remember to subscribe So you never miss a single episode and find our other podcasts on your favorite audio apps. We see you two weeks later with new behaviors that are still amazing. Bye !

Music :

Silly introduction And the Freedom, Par Alexander Nakarada

He sings in the fieldsWritten by Raphael Crookes

Entertainment – pizza, Par Kevin Macleod

Pioneering atmosphere 11 Par Sasha Andy

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license