Overview
- An international team published their findings in Current Biology on June 22, 2026, reporting a previously undescribed Propostira spider that builds a spring-actuated, cone-shaped snare in north Queensland.
- Researchers filmed the nocturnal spiders using high-speed cameras and observed the spider construct 15–60 bundled tension lines, wrap a thin silk cone, retreat to its main web, and wait for the trap to be triggered by an attacking ant.
- High-speed measurements show triggered ants can experience accelerations of about 1,300–1,367 m/s² (roughly 130–140 g) and can be flung around 28–30 centimetres into the spider’s main web before the spider approaches.
- Field tests indicate the snare consistently attracts and captures only the green tree ant Oecophylla smaragdina and the team hypothesizes the cone is coated with species-specific chemical cues but this pheromone-like lure has not yet been chemically confirmed.
- Key next steps include formally naming the species, chemically testing the lure hypothesis, expanding sample sizes to confirm peak performance metrics, and comparative studies of related Propostira spiders and silk biomechanics to place the system in evolutionary context.