Sticky spiders? Certain species stick their victims so they don't run away

Arachnids are divided into several categories and there are thousands of spider species that many people have not even heard of. Opillions, of the order Opiliones, are part of the third largest order of arachnids, and they alone have more than six thousand species. They are mainly characterized by having the cephalothorax and abdomen united, as well as the presence of a disgusting pair of glands.

In Brazil, opilionists are popularly known as goat spider, smelly spider or bodum, due to the secretion they can release when threatened - although they are harmless to humans. Scientists have always been intrigued by the way opilions hunt their prey, as there are some significant differences from normal spiders. Finally, something quite curious was discovered about these arachnids:

They are able to coat their front limbs with a type of glue, so that the fangs are literally stuck to the legs of these arachnids. The sticky hairs of the front members of the harvestmen are quite common in the Opiliones order, being essential in prey hunting. A study by entomologist Jonas Wolff of the University of Kiel in Germany has proven this through high-speed cameras.

Without letting the victims escape

Like all arachnids, hawkers have a pair of forepaws called pedipalps, which are like hands that they use to handle food in a somewhat terrifying way. The last two segments of the opipalion's pedipalps have small bulbous-tipped hairs, and this is where the sticky liquid is expelled so that the prey cannot detach from the opiumion.

Want to see how this works in practice? Below you can check out two videos that portray the moment when the opilionists catch their prey with the sticky pedipalps and no longer let them escape: