How spider webs use electricity to catch prey

As if you needed another reason to be afraid of spiders

Spider web
(Image credit: Patrick Pleul/dpa/Corbis)

Spider webs are notoriously excellent traps, boasting a wide net, incredible tensile strength, and stickiness. Researchers have now found that the webs use another previously unknown means of ensnaring prey: Electricity.

In a new study published in Scientific Reports, a team of California researchers found that webs can actually reach out to snag passing insects in response to their mild electrical charge. The charges trigger a "rapid and substantial web attraction" that is large enough to pluck unsuspecting passersby from their flight.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.