I caught a feature on Animal Planet about the life of sand grains in the Namib Desert. It tracked the years-long journey of the desert sands travelling from the desert of South Africa to their end in the ocean.
The documentary showed some of the hidden dramas taking place in the desert and one of these was the way the spore spiders trapped and killed their favorite prey...the Namib ants.
The spore spider digs a hole in the sand and at the entrance of its lair it mixes its web with sand to camouflage the trap. The spider then hides in its tunnel which is also cooler than on the surface and lies in wait for its victim.
When an ant gets caught in the web it struggles to get free but in doing so, it sends vibrations throught the sand particles which the spider detects. But here's the interesting part!
The spore spider just traps the ant in its jaws then lets it roast under the sun until it cooks to its death...ready for the spider to eat!
A desert barbecue!
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