Scientists discover spiders are eating snakes all over the world

“They can outfight snakes 10 to 30 times their size,” says the University of Basel in Switzerland.

According to a new meta-analysis study, perhaps snakes should be fearful of spiders. It seems arachnids like to chow down on the reptiles, all over the world.

The study, published in The Journal of Arachnology, has the straightforward title Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) Feeding on Snakes (Reptilia: Squamata). The researchers looked at 319 reports of spiders feeding on snakes from every continent except Antarctica. Most of the events occurred in the US and Australia.

The data showed that spiders representing 11 different families have been observed eating snakes. “That so many different groups of spiders sometimes eat snakes is a completely novel finding,” lead author and arachnologist Martin Nyffeler said in a Monday news release from Switzerland’s University of Basel. Guess we can add the discovery to our Surprising Insect Dining Habits file, alongside praying mantises eating hummingbird brains.

Here is the full story, via Shaffin.