A team of researchers led by biologist Daniel Raboski of the University of Michigan, during their trip to the Amazon jungle, captured the unique moments of the huge spiders hunting for various prey.
Local spiders do grow very large, which allows them to prey on large vertebrates such as lizards, frogs, snakes and even possums.
When the researchers saw a furry spider the size of a large dinner plate dragging a carcass of a barely alive possum, they could not believe their eyes. In total, they managed to see 15 moments of the hunting of huge spiders on Amazonian amphibians, reptiles and mammals.
Raboski's research team traveled to the Los Amigos biological station in the remote area of Madre de Dios in southeastern Peru. The site is located in the plains of the Amazon rainforest near the foothills of the Andes, and it is one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet.
In fact, the group intended to research amphibians and reptiles, but unexpectedly for herself, she found herself constantly encountering huge spiders hunting their subjects. It was an unusual by-product of scientific work.
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“At the first encounters with hunting spiders, we began to write down our observations and at some point discovered that we had a large number of them for a separate article.”
Most of the videos and photos were taken during nighttime observations, it was then that the spiders went hunting. The research team could only sit among the thickets with flashlights and listen carefully.
When someone heard the rustling of leaves, this could mean that there is a large spider nearby, which has either already caught someone or is about to do it.
Hunting spiders for possum and other vertebrates:
Spiders kill their victims with their jaws or use poison. Some spiders have special long hairs on their limbs, with which they sense the slightest vibrations in the air and thus hunt down prey in the dark.
