Watch as a terrifying noble false widow spider DEVOURS an unsuspecting pygmy shrew
Arachnophobes, look away now! Watch a terrifying noble false widow spider take down an unsuspecting pygmy shrew – before hoisting it up into the rafters to be WORN
- The horrific incident took place in Chichester, West Sussex
- A pygmy shrew was found, entangled in a spider’s web, still alive
- The poison soon took effect, allowing the spider to hoist the shrew into rafters
If you’re afraid of spiders, you might want to look away now.
Scientists have revealed footage of a terrifying noble false widow spider feeding on an unsuspecting pygmy shrew for the first time.
The horrific incident took place in Chichester, West Sussex, where the small mammal became entangled in a spider’s web.
While the shrew was alive when discovered, the spider’s venom soon kicked in, allowing it to hoist the shrew into the rafters to be devoured.
Dr. Michel Dugon, head of the Venom Systems Lab at the University of Galway and lead author of the study, said: ‘The noble false widow is perfectly adapted to take down large prey, combining powerful venom, extremely strong silk and complex hunting behaviour. .’
Scientists have revealed footage of a terrifying noble false widow spider feeding on an unsuspecting pygmy shrew for the first time
The noble false widow is the largest species of false widow, with males typically growing to a body length of up to 0.4 inches (10 mm) and females up to 0.5 inches (14 mm).
‘Noble false widows are not native to the UK, but they are thought to have arrived in banana boxes from the Canary Islands in the late 19th century,’ the Wildlife Trust explains on its website.
“Populations settled along the southern coast and have since spread northward, likely aided in their expansion by global warming.”
The extraordinary discovery was made by Dawn Sturgess, who was shocked to find a small creature entangled in a spider’s web in a bedroom of her Chichester home.
Although Mrs. Sturgess wasn’t sure what the creature was, it was later identified as the pygmy shrew, Sorex minutus, by the length of its rows of teeth.
The shrew was alive, but this did not last long, thanks to the spider’s highly potent neurotoxic venom.
Before long the shrew was so inept that the spider could hoist it up the rafters, where it wrapped it in silk and ate it for three days.
According to the researchers, this is the first time a member of this spider family has preyed on a shrew in Ireland or Britain.
It is also the first time that a species of false widow spider has hunted shrews anywhere in the world.
The extraordinary discovery was made by Dawn Sturgess, who was shocked to find a small creature entangled in a spider’s web in a bedroom of her Chichester home.
The noble false widow is the largest species of false widow, with males typically growing to body lengths of up to 10mm and females up to 14mm.
Dr. John Dunbar, senior author of the study said: ‘The noble false widow is a very intriguing spider, and we still have a lot to learn about it.
‘We are very grateful to the citizens who share their observations with us.
“This will help us better understand how this invasive species can affect us and our environment.”
While this is the first time a false widow spider has eaten a pygmy shrew, that doesn’t mean the species hasn’t targeted large animals before.
In 2021, the researchers recorded a false widow spider lifting a gecko off the ground, using its goatee threads as a pulling system.
“It seems that the noble false widow spider used an identical method to hoist the shrew higher in the web,” the researchers conclude.