Bat-Catching Spiders Present Everywhere Except Antarctica: Study

Antarctica - the large, frozen wasteland with conditions so hostile that no organism calls it a permanent home - is the only place in the world that has no bat-catching spiders, says a new study. 

The latest finding adds to the list of organisms hunted down by the eight-legged creatures. According to researchers, spiders are known to catch fishes, frogs, lizards and even snakes and birds. But, spiders preying on vertebrate like bats were thought to be a rare event.

However, the new study reviewed literature on bats hunted by the spiders and found that these events are quite frequent.

"Bat-catching spiders have been reported from virtually every continent with the exception of Antarctica," the study said.

Bats have very few natural enemies, which include owls, hawks and snakes, nbc news reported.

Researchers found that a majority of spider-catching spiders are the web-building (about 88 percent) while a minor group hunts down these bats. Spiders belonging to the araneomorph families Nephilidae (golden silk orb-weavers), Araneidae (orb-weaver spiders), Sparassidae (huntsman spiders), and the mygalomorph family Theraphosidae (tarantulas) were found to be preying on bats.

Although many of these spiders are found in Australia and parts of Asia, there are about 185 species of the aforementioned Araneidae living in Europe. Large tropical orb weaver spiders are found in Florida, Louisiana and Texas along the Gulf Coast of the United States.

The study found that in some cases, the bats were captured accidently in the webs. But, in some cases, spiders were found to be actively killing and eating the bats.

The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE.