Video: If Marvel’s Spider-Man always seemed a little too far-fetched, you’re going to have an even harder time wrapping your head around the Darwin’s Bark spider. It’s no bigger than a thumbnail, but it can shoot a web at distances up to 25m, allowing it to cross rivers and spin massive traps.
Only just discovered in Madagascar back in 2009, the Darwin’s Bark is somehow able to generate enough silk — which also happens to be one of the strongest natural materials ever discovered — to span distances up to 25m to create an anchor line it then uses to spin a giant web.
But instead of shooting the silk like Spider-Man does, the spider creates long wispy strands that are carried along by the breeze until they anchor themselves to another tree. Once secure, the Darwin’s Spark is then able to crawl along the line, reinforce it, and expand its jungle domain. How have these creatures not taken over the planet yet?