When this spider senses its prey approaching from any direction, it turns to strike faster than a blink of an eye, taking just one-eighth of a second to make its spin. Flattie spiders make the fastest leg-driven turn of any land animal on the planet ranking among the fastest-turning animals, along with hummingbirds and fruit flies.
The flies turn at speeds of up to 3,000 degrees per second. They can even make three complete rotations in the time it takes to blink your eye. The leg closest to the prey is used as an anchor in the ground, allowing the spider to pull its body toward its prey. The legs opposite the prey simultaneously push off the ground to help. This combination achieves a twisting force that launches the spider into its spin.
Researchers hope that the spiders turn can help make robots and other machines more manoeuvrable.
Picture Credit : Google
