Comments on: Singaporean spiders spit venomous glue, work together, eat each other

By: Gaurav

Gaurav — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 04:11:54 +0000

“And it does this in packs – after hatching, spiderlings spend their early lives on their home web and they spit at, bite and devour prey en masse.” Erm, is anybody else thinking of zerglings and hydralisks from Starcraft 2? And all this time we thought Blizzard was making that stuff up …

By: Singaporean spiders spit venomous glue, work together, eat each other (Discover Magazine Blogs/Not Exactly Rocket Science) | Raffles Museum News

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 07:44:40 +0000

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By: Terry

Terry — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:06:45 +0000

I hate spiders!
The thought that a spider works together with other relatives and can not only catch you in its web but spits at you as well is a very terrifying thought.

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:09:38 +0000

Or perhaps they were… BEHIND YOU!!!

By: Jon D

Jon D — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:08:06 +0000

Cool! I love spiders
Never really saw any when I lived in Singapore.. started thinking there werent any, but I suppose the forest is fairly big and I never really ventured there in fear of being shot

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:39:33 +0000

Ahem

By: Ian

Ian — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:38:57 +0000

Do you mean “cannibalism”? technically, “cannabilism” refers only to humans. Who made *that* bizarre distinction, I have no idea. Or do these spiders actually eat humans?!

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:31:36 +0000

Ddeden – my Twitter followers tell me that the blue-ringed octopus can indeed squirt venom into the water around it.
Zach – one theory I’ve read about naked mole rat sociality says that their food contributed to it. They eat large underground tubers that are very difficult to find but can provide sustenance for many individuals when they do. Makes it worthwhile to cooperate with one another.

By: Candid Engineer

Candid Engineer — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:21:01 +0000

Yuck.
Thanks for posting.

By: WhySharksMatter

WhySharksMatter — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 04:04:59 +0000

Sharks don’t bother me… but spiders that work together? Thanks, Ed. I may never sleep again.