When These Arachnids do Battle, the Winner is Never Certain

"Usually both fangs slide on the surface of the harvestman's body," he explained to New Scientist, adding that the result becomes more of a battle than your average predator-prey scenario.

Interestingly, this doesn't always happen. Willemart and his team found numerous carcasses of harvestmen in the webs of recluse spiders in Brazil. The successful spider were then brought to a lab, where they were introduced to more harvestmen prey. A stunning 31 out of 38 spiders found a way to kill and then eat these harvestmen, revealing the trick to a successful hunt.

"Recluse spiders are exceptional in that they do not try to pierce through the armor. They simply avoid it and bite the soft parts of the harvestman," he explained.

According to the study, the research team observed the successful spiders actually feeling around the harvestman's body even as they grappled. When the recluse finally found an unarmored portion, no matter how small, it lunged with frightening speed and accuracy, plunging a venomous fang into its prey.

Still, there are many questions to be asked, especially concerning why only some spiders know to do this. Is it a learned behavior or are some spiders simply better at it than others? A lot more research will be needed to find out.

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