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Article: The Dizzy Dean of Spiders
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- June 1, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The wiles of spiders are varied and infamous. They use
disguises, snares, poisons and a variety of acrobatic jumps, swings
and darts.
The latest cleverness to be deciphered, and published in the May
22 Science, is that of the bolas spider, which has two tricky
wickets-one chemical, one physical-to capture hapless moths.
These spiders have simple webs that at first glance would not
seem useful. The spider tacks up one thread, horizontally, and
descends like a trapeze artist from the middle of the wire. Swinging
below, the creature holds a short line that resembles the South
American cowboy weapon, the bola. At the end of the line is a