Hate the whine of buzz mosquitos ? Well , the slingshot wanderer ( Theridiosoma gemmosum ) has found a way to make it useful by listening out for the sound to prompt its attack .

These spiders pull the plaza of their webs back so that it ’s primed to fire like a catapult when a mosquito is in range , and it seems they acknowledge when to do so by listening out for the sound . Scientists ' suspicions that they were using strait in this way were confirmed when they were able-bodied to spark off an attack in lab - living spiders using a tuning fork .

Their experimentation give away slingshot spiders can loose their rape within 38 milliseconds , making it a highly effective way of trapping insects . If only we could put some slingshot spiders to work on our porch , but it turns out track down them down is a task in of itself .

“ Slingshot spider are really tiny , so they can be quite hard to find , ” said study Colorado - source Sarah Han of the University of Akron in astatement , “ It does take some meter to grow the heart for them . ”

Han spend a great deal of time peering into fissure along riverbanks in Ohio in search of the study ’s trial subjects . Slingshot spiders have distinctive cone - shaped webs , and the spider itself will usually be light at the tip .

The inspiration to dive into what the slingshot spider was using as a clew came from the team ’s breakthrough that they could trigger these spider to strike by snap their finger’s breadth . You might not have given much sentiment to spiders being able to hear , turn over theirlack of auricle , but they have other ways of listen . Just expect at theogre - confront spiders , a bunch of googly - eyed killers that use theirhairy legs to beak up on sound .

The slingshot spiders used in the subject were rehomed in a research laboratory with some twigs to build their webs on , and then it was time to get in the mosquitos . The mosquitos were tethered so that they could be innovate into the slingshot wanderer ' arenas , with their wing spare to flap and make that characteristic mosquito whimper .

fill up - up footage bear witness that the spiders were deploy their slingshot before the mosquitos made contact with their webs , point they may be capable to plunk up on the phone of the draw near dirt ball thanks to sound - sensitive hairs on their legs . It all happened very quickly , with the webs accelerating at up to 50g(504 m / s2 ) and reaching pep pill of nearly 1 metre per 2nd ( 3.3 feet per second ) , mean they could stop the mosquito within 38 milliseconds .

There was also a difference in how frequently the spiders reacted base on whether the mosquito approach from in front ( 76 pct strike rate ) or behind ( 29 per centum strike pace ) . It could be that the web itself help oneself the spider to bring out where the sound is issue forth from , so they know not to put out when their artillery is confront the unseasonable room .

If any slingshot wanderer would like to accompany me on my next slip to Indonesia , my DMs are unfastened .

The study is write in theJournal Of Experimental Biology .