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.

A new species of spider which weaves a catapult-like silk trap to snare a single type of ant has been discovered in the remote rainforests of northern Australia. Researchers believe the nocturnal ...

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 ...

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, cone-shaped ...