Spiders and insects attack and eat animals with hair or feathers, which is creepy. But this disturbing thing happens all the time.
You've probably seen this viral video: an Australian tall spider dragging a mouse up to the other side of the refrigerator. Well, we can get to that height.
Shots of tall spiders are undoubtedly eye-catching. This spider shows amazing strength and extraordinary grip: the surface of the refrigerator is quite smooth, almost not conducive to easy climbing.
But in one key respect, it doesn't matter: the spider probably didn't kill the rat. The rat's stiff tail and drooping belly are both clues, and it's been dead for quite some time. So, what this video shows is that this is really nothing more than a pretty impressive feat of force cleanup.
Looking further into the animal kingdom, however, there are plenty of examples of "reptiles", such as spiders subduing and killing animals far larger than they themselves.
For example, in a paper published in December 2016, researchers described a dramatic event in Brazil. A tarantula (Grammostola quirogai) was found eating a snake that had apparently been subdued and killed. The snake is an Almaden ground snake that is 15 inches (39 cm) long.
A tarantula (Grammostola quirogai) eats an Almaden ground snake (Erythrolampru.)
almadensis) (Acknowledgements: Gabriela Franzoi Dri)
This kind of tremor-inducing behavior is far more common than you can imagine.
Spiders and insects are fundamentally different from us because they don't have a vertebra: they are "invertebrates." We, along with dogs, eagles, frogs and fish, are vertebrates — vertebrates.
Dragonfly larvae are the main aquatic predators and often eat tadpoles
Vertebrates can grow much larger than invertebrates. With the exception of B-movies, no insect can compete with elephants in size. So we tend to think that vertebrates eat invertebrates — birds catch flies, chimpanzees eat termites,
Anteaters are more pronounced – not the other way around.
The idea of an invertebrate eating a vertebrate often provokes shivers of fear, and you don't even know the technical terms to describe it. Think of the giant spider corpse in Return of the King, Aragok in Harry Potter, or even just the name "Goliath Bird-Eater Spider." It all feels rather weird, somehow going against the natural laws of things.
But nature neither knows nor cares about our prejudices. There are many large, fast, and (usually) highly toxic invertebrate predators. It doesn't matter to them if their prey is a vertebrate: maybe the spine adds a little extra crunch to the chewing, but that's about it.
A Cobwebbed Chinese-American Green Mosquito Bully (Green Striped Bully) (Acknowledgements: K. Nesmith）
A recent report came from the German journal Salamandra. In April 2016, Brazilian biologists recorded for the first time an example of dragonfly larvae eating adult frogs.
Dragonfly larvae are the main aquatic predators and often eat tadpoles, which forces tadpoles to evolve circuitous defensive strategies. Leopard frog tadpoles will ripen at an accelerated rate if they are in a pond with dragonfly larvae. Other species of tadpoles hide or grow ornaments on their tails to induce dragonfly larvae to attack less vulnerable parts of their bodies.
Scolopendra centipedes are particularly ferocious. They may be more than 30 cm long
Dragonfly larvae may be tigers in aquatic vegetation, but they are not thought to attack adult frogs. The new study suggests they do, at least occasionally. The greedy larvae climb from the pond to the aquatic plants, then jump on the frog and begin to eat live, when the frog tries to escape without success.
But dragonflies involved in the use of vertebrates for food didn't end there. Occasionally, adult dragonflies join the action. For example, there is an unusual photo of a giant Canadian dragonfly called a dragonhunter capturing a red-throated hummingbird in mid-air and beginning to feed on it. However, this is clearly not always the case: the only other known cases occurred in 1977.
Elsewhere, other invertebrates are routine hunters of vertebrates. Some of the most specialized are the Scolopendra centipede.
A giant centipede (Scolopendra viridicornis) eats an Argentinian brown bat (Eptesi.).
furinalis)(致谢:Ana Carolina Srbek de Araujo)
Most centipedes are predators, but the Scolopendra centipede is particularly ferocious. They may be more than 30 cm long and have a pair of powerful fangs: these are specifically called "palate teeth" because they are not real fangs, in fact they are improved forefoots.
These centipedes are not native to Britain, although they occasionally hitchhikers with imported fruit. There are five European breeds, but they rarely exceed 16 cm and feed on other invertebrates. But this has changed in the tropics, where some burrowing Scolopendra centipede species are major predators of wood-dwelling bats.
Scolopendra centipede venom, which contains 10 to 62 proteins that stop the hearts of animals
The centipede crawls rapidly to the top of the bat cave and stabilizes itself with its six legs behind it. These legs are particularly stout and strong, with oversized and sharp claws on the tip of the toes to keep them firmly grasped. Once in place, the Scolopendra centipede either swung the rest of its body into the bat's flight space and grabbed one as the bat skimmed by, or dragged a snoozing bat from the wall.
In addition to bats, these heavily armed beasts have been known to catch mice, lizards, frogs, and even snakes. Nor do we talk about harmless grass snakes: these centipedes have been recorded as overwhelming species, as fast and venomous as the Indian coral snake.
Of course, it is worth remembering that centipedes are the oldest living venomous animals. The 420 million-year-old centipede found in the stone, its palates and everything are particularly similar to those around today. Mammals, on the other hand, only appeared about 208 million years ago. This means that when the first shrew-sized animals use their whiskers and noses to probe the world, large venom-controlling centipedes are waiting for them.
In addition to their sheer size, what makes the scolopendrids centipede such Hollywood-style predators is their venom.
A giant centipede eats a lizard (Cnemidophorus ocellifer)
(Acknowledgements: Anthony Ferreira)
The venom of the Scolopendrid centipede is produced in the palate and contains between 10 and 62 proteins that can stop the animal's heart or interfere with metabolism. Some species have strong enough venom to kill children, large dogs, and military personnel, in the unlikely case that the unfortunate person accidentally swallows a small centipede.
It seemed as if the centipede didn't know when it was going to end.
In a study published in 2014, Dragan Arsovski and colleagues reported that they had found a female horn nose snake that had died from a stomach burst. The 20-centimeter-long animal recklessly decided to swallow a live 15-centimeter-long centipede. This creates a mistake: the centipede seems to have eaten all of the snake's internal organs and then tries to regain its freedom through the snake's abdominal wall in this way. As you can see from the diagram, it's almost going to succeed.
A Scolopendra centipede eats a path from a female horned nasal viper (sand viper).
(Acknowledgements: Xavier Bonnet)
However, Scolopendrids centipedes do not always achieve their goals. On the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, there is a lizard called the Warren Giant Lizard, which seems to specialize in hunting the Scolopendra centipede. However, this is extremely rare – although the reason has nothing to do with its diet.
The aquatic habitat is also flooded with invertebrate predators.
A water beetle (Dytiscus sp.) hits a tadpole (thanks: Josh van Buskirk)
Looking at any body of water in the summer, you'll see long-legged insects skimming through the ponds and making slight ripples on the surface of the water. They feed on the offal of drowning insects. But beneath the surface of the water, hidden from weeds and dead leaves lurk water scorpions: 2 centimeters long ambush predators, eating any creature that enters its predation range.
In the tropics, these insects have grown proportionally, turning into giant water bugs. The largest species reaches 12 cm.
They hide themselves under the vegetation and then raid. They have a sturdy tubular gimmick that can be used to pierce prey, inject digestive juices, and then suck up the resulting "soup." The huge hook-shaped front legs ensure that there is little chance of escape.
A giant water beetle eats a frog (Acknowledgements: Caio A. Figueiredo de Andrade)
Giant water beetles eat many fish and tadpoles, as well as adult frogs and water snakes. There are even reports that juvenile water turtles have become prey.
A giant water beetle catches a water turtle (Thanks: Shin-ya Ohba)
Giant water beetles and scolopendrid centipedes are ambush predators. So, when we might discover how terrifying their attacks are, at least the prey is dead before it is sucked.
Crabs, however, are less thoughtful. If an animal cannot fight back at the wrong time in the wrong place, it faces being shredded to death by thousands of claws or mini jaws.
One such example comes from Taiwan. A study published in 2005 reported that breeding pairs of Kur's fanged frogs were preyed upon by Rasben Creek crabs. Imagine the frog being so distracted that it didn't notice the crab coming.
Niger's traverse armor even exercises very little. It hunts salamanders during underground hibernation
In 2013, a similar case from The Island of Broughton in northern Sydney, Australia, was recounted. Graham Pyke of the University of Technology Sydney has found that forsythia frogs, which are endangered due to habitat loss, have to cope with the rapid influx of coastal crabs every year.
The crabs migrate from the intertidal areas where they usually prey to enjoy the annual gathering of forsythia frogs, and later their tadpoles.
You might think that tadpoles living away from ponds would be safe, but they are not. Panamanian green and black poison dart frogs lay their eggs in waterlogged tree holes, but there are reports that these treetop paradises have been found and plundered by freshwater crabs. The crabs also climb up the twigs of the waterside shrubs to eat the eggs that cover the leaves, which are placed there by the mother glass frog in the hope that they can grow safely.
Similarly, in israel's central coastal plains, green-footed beetles look for young frogs and salamanders. When they find one, they jump on its back and bite the bottom of its spine. Once the animal stops, they start eating. Research by Gil Wizen and Avital Gastith of Tel Aviv University shows that these dark blue and orange beetles eat almost all amphibians.
A Polish cave beetle called the Niger Traverse Beetle even rarely moves. It hunts salamanders during underground hibernation. At this time, the salamanders are too lazy to move, and this beetle with a special cold-start metabolism finds them and eats calmly.
A beetle (Niger's tongyuan bucha) eats a hibernating salamander (Thanks: R. Bernard/J. Samolag）
Because of the need for complete crawling, perhaps the worst thing is still to die from leeches. Leeches from different parts of Brazil, India and the southern United States have documented their adsorption on adult frogs and toads – killing unfortunate victims – not only eating all the frog eggs, but even killing water pattern snakes.
And then, of course, spiders.
A giant fishing spider (Ancylometes rufus) eats a domestic tree frog (Dendropsophus
melanargyreus) (Acknowledgements: Mario Moura)
Many people are afraid of spiders in some way, even if all they do is prey on insects, such as flies. If these eight-legged hairy animals prey on a family similar to ours, it would be very unpleasant.
Most of the bats that are eaten by spiders are the first to fall into the net
A 2012 review found that 54 species of birds from 23 families were reported trapped in spider webs in the United States alone.
Most of the webs are knotted by the Giant Round Web Weaver of the Nephila spider. Adult female spiders have the size of a human thumb and can have a web width of more than 3 meters. The main victims were hummingbirds weighing less than 15 grams. When found, many had been encased in spider silk and injected with venom and were ready to be liquefied and sucked.
Similarly, a 2007 study reported that in Brazil, a common modern stork was found trapped in a spider's web and nearly eaten. The Nephilengys cruentata spider is almost as big as a 7-gram bird.
A common contemporary bird (the Dumb Bulbul) is being eaten by a spider (Nephilengys cruentata).
(致谢:Pedro Luiz Peloso/Valdemir Pereira de Sousa)
This weight is the same as that of a large proboscis bat, so it is not surprising that they are also found in spider webs. In one case observed in 2005 by University of Kansas biologist Robert Timm, an animal was wrapped in silk and an Argiope savignyi spider was enjoying it.
A spider (Argiope savignyi) is enjoying a proboscis bat (Rhynchonycteris.)
NASO) (Acknowledgements: M. Knoernschild）
Most bats are eaten by spiders when they are first caught in a web, but not all. In India, tarantulas, known as red parachutes, have been spotted eating Ceylon volvo-winged bats. It is 8 cm long and is about the same size as the animals that are eaten.
A red parachute tarantula (Poecilotheria rufilata) eats a ceylon-winged bat that has just been killed
(Ceylon Flank) (Acknowledgements: Karumampoyil Sakthidas Anoop Das)
Spiders also eat amphibians. For example, a 2010 newspaper described a tarantula preying on a newly evolved toad.
A tarantula (Lycosa erythrognatha) bites a toad (Rhinella ornata)
(Acknowledgements: Yuri Fanchini Messas)
At the same time, two exotic invertebrates were accidentally brought to Christmas Island, which may be responsible for the extinction of the native bat, the genus Hologlobinos. The giant Scolopendra centipede has gone to the extreme, and the yellow mad ant may have eaten the last four bats that live in their habitat.
Finally, we have to mention the Goliath Birdcatcher, which is the competitor to the largest spider in the world. Although its name is a bird-catching spider and rarely attacks birds, "few" does not mean "never." In October 2016, researchers reported that a Goliath bird-catcher spider had killed a scaly-back antbird after the bird was entangled in some nets.
A Goliath bird-catching spider (Amazon giant bird-eating spider) is literally catching a scaly-backed antbird
（致谢：William Douglas de Carvalho/Darren Norris/Fer）
These giant spiders make us pay attention to the importance of size. While the largest vertebrates make all invertebrates appear short, there are large numbers of invertebrates large enough to prey on small vertebrates.
We may not use the word "vertebrate," but a dog is noticeably more similar to us than a large centipede
As large animals, although we are not used to using the term, some small animals such as hummingbirds will have different perspectives. Adult birds are snatched by praying mantises and dragonflies, and are also taken from predators by hungry wasps that eat sugar. There are even records of absolutely tiny chicks being picked up by wasps and brought back to their nests to feed their larvae.
Most of us are happy to watch vertebrates hunt vertebrates; if a lion kills a giraffe, we will feel sad but not disgusted, and we cheer when the newly born iguana escapes the American snake. Similarly, if a vertebrate hunts an invertebrate, it seems normal: early birds are aggressive when they catch insects.
But invertebrates eating vertebrates is another matter. We find ourselves very shocked by these: crabs prey on baby turtles, wasps aim at chicks, or giant centipedes chewing bats. In a way, this seems wrong, as if the laws of nature have been reversed – but why?
A giant ant (Dinoponera quadriceps) attacks a naked-toed gecko (naked-toed tiger)
(致谢:Crizanto Brito de Carvalho)
Perhaps we instinctively acknowledge the fact of evolution: other vertebrates are more like us than invertebrates. We may not use the term "vertebrate," but a dog is distinctly more similar to us than a giant centipede. Not only does the dog have hair and the same number of limbs, its performance is also completely understandable, showing familiar emotions such as joy and anger.
The complex venom of giant centipedes is under scrutiny, and the proteins that may be carried in their venom can be used for medical benefits
In prehistoric times, it was possible to predict the behavior of an animal to ensure that it was safe to some extent. But we can't understand invertebrates the same way we understand dogs, lions, or eagles. They're just too weird, they're acting too weird, their bodies are too weird. They don't have wagging tails, and none of their eyes are large and emotional.
Perhaps on a basic level, we don't believe in invertebrates, so we are grateful because their strangeness does not manifest itself in predation. This explains why we get upset when it does. If a bat eats a spider, we will nod our heads knowingly on the couch; but if a spider eats a bat, we hold the cushion and shiver.
But to think that these apparently worrisome invertebrates are just a source of nightmares and bad horror movies would be a mistake. Even these superficially deformed creatures have proven useful.
In particular, the complex venom of giant centipedes is being closely watched, and the proteins that may be carried in their venom can be used for medical benefits. So far, compounds with excitatory potential for breast cancer, heart blood flow, asthma and blood clots are being studied. These animals have even acquired a new name: "medicinal centipede".
Original from: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170118-monstrous-spiders-and-centipedes-that-prey-on-large-animals