{"id":404049,"date":"2026-04-21T21:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/404049\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:32:11","slug":"then-theres-those-long-fang-tipped-jaws-6-most-cunning-devious-spiders-that-manipulate-seduce-and-stalk-their-way-to-a-successful-kill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/404049\/","title":{"rendered":"“Then there’s those long, fang-tipped jaws…” 6 most cunning, devious spiders that manipulate, seduce and stalk their way to a successful kill"},"content":{"rendered":"

These spiders are not just deadly predators \u2013 they also have terrifyingly calculated ways of luring and catching their prey. <\/p>\n

Orb-weaver spider
\n\"\"Hillary Kladke\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Orb-weaver spiders<\/a> eat fireflies, but only the males. This is because only the males can fly and therefore get trapped in webs<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fireflies<\/a>\u00a0(Abscondita terminalis) flash with the aim of attracting mates. Females emit single flashes to attract males, while males emit multiple flashes to attract females.<\/p>\n

During a study in the Wuhan Province, China<\/a>, a team of scientists noticed something strange. The spiders didn\u2019t always eat the male fireflies straight away. What\u2019s more, male fireflies caught in webs seemed to flash like females.<\/p>\n

This gives an obvious advantage to the spiders \u2013 other males will come to the web because they think they’re flying to a mate<\/a>, which means more food for the spider.<\/p>\n

Researchers tested whether the spiders were somehow manipulating the fireflies’ behaviour, and discovered that the spiders would usually bite the fireflies when they became trapped in the web. This suggests that their venomous bite might somehow cause behavioural changes in the fireflies.<\/p>\n

Assassin spider<\/p>\n

This aptly named arachnid<\/a> stalks its prey (other spiders) for days on end by following their silken drag lines, then walks undetected in their webs, luring them to certain death by plucking seductively at the threads.<\/p>\n

And then there’s those long, fang<\/a>-tipped jaws, which the predator uses not only to impale its quarry from afar but also to hold the victim at arm’s length, as it were, so that it cannot bite back before the assassin’s venom<\/a> kicks in.<\/p>\n

But, though the assassin certainly sounds scary, arachnophobes can sleep easy. What these spiders boast in weirdness, they lack in size \u2013 most are just a few millimetres long.<\/p>\n

Puppetmaster
\n\"\"Guenter Fischer\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

If you think that the photograph above resembles a spider sitting in its web, you’re right. But take a closer look: all is not as it seems. What appears to be a single large arachnid<\/a> has actually been constructed from fragments of leaves<\/a>, insects<\/a> and other debris woven carefully into the web.<\/p>\n

It was built by a spider, albeit one much smaller, just visible at the point where the pseudo-spider’s head would be. From there, the puppetmaster can pull the strings \u2013 quite literally \u2013 to bring its creation to life, waggling its legs realistically when danger approaches.<\/p>\n

The builders of these decoy spiders are the orb weavers\u00a0Cyclosa inca\u00a0and\u00a0Cyclosa longicauda. The marionette is believed to deter predators<\/a> that might be tempted to tuck into its smaller, less intimidating creator.<\/p>\n

Portia<\/p>\n

Octopuses<\/a> aren\u2019t the only intelligent invertebrates out there.\u00a0Portia<\/a>\u00a0is a spider that specialises in hunting other spiders. It locates its prey by sight from afar, thanks to a pair of enormous forward-facing eyes. The real challenge, though, is to creep up on it without being seen.<\/p>\n

Portia\u00a0is capable of planning a route through the three-dimensional vegetation that allows it to approach its chosen victim from the rear. This route may involve significant detours in the opposite direction and long periods during which the prey is out of sight.<\/p>\n

Darwin’s bark spider<\/p>\n

Seduction<\/a> is an awkward game. This is particularly true of Darwin\u2019s bark spider<\/a> (Caerostris darwini). The female<\/a> is Goliath to his David; about 14 times his weight. To seduce her, the male must gingerly traverse her enormous web \u2013 a succession of tripwires designed to sense the slightest vibration \u2013 and copulate, all without triggering her attacking instinct.<\/p>\n

The female can catch and eat her sexual suitors before, during or after sex. Studies have shown that cannibalism<\/a> provides the female with superior sustenance, as the nutrients derived from the male are effectively tailor-made for making baby spiders. Sexual cannibalism is thus the ultimate act of paternal care, as long as the munched male is actually the father.<\/p>\n

Vampire spider
\n\"\"sdbower\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The vampire spider<\/a> is a member of the imminently likeable and charismatic jumping spider<\/a> family (Salticidae).\u00a0At first glance, the vampire spider is dull and seemingly unremarkable-looking. It is a drab brown-and-grey colour and relatively small in stature, growing to less than 5mm long.<\/p>\n

However, what it lacks in obvious flourish and flamboyance, it more than makes up for in its specialised life pursuits.<\/p>\n

Culicivora\u00a0means \u2018mosquito<\/a> eater\u2019 and the species hunts these infamous insects<\/a> with a single-minded focus \u2013 it specifically targets the females. This is because it is only the females that feed on the blood of humans and other mammals, and believe it or not, it is actually the blood that the spider is after.\u00a0Being such a tiny<\/a> creature, it doesn\u2019t have the hardware to pierce human skin, so it uses the mosquitoes as go-betweens. It\u2019s therefore not really a true vampire after all, but an indirect one \u2013 a vampire one stop removed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"These spiders are not just deadly predators \u2013 they also have terrifyingly calculated ways of luring and catching…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[85,46,141,386],"class_list":{"0":"post-404049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}