Scientists have unlocked the secrets of how some predatory spiders catch their prey while hunting by successfully training one to jump different distances and heights for the first time.

The study, conducted by researchers at *The University of Manchester, is the most advanced of its kind to date and first to use 3D CT scanning and high-speed, high-resolution cameras to record, monitor and analyse a spider’s movement and behaviour.

The aim of the research is to answer the question of why jumping spider anatomy and behaviour evolved the way it did, and secondly, to use this improved understanding of spiders to imagine a new class of agile micro-robots that are currently unthinkable using today’s engineering technologies.

The study is being published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Dr Mostafa Nabawy, lead author of the study, says: “The focus of the present work is on the extraordinary jumping capability of these spiders. A jumping spider can leap up to six times its body length from a standing start. The best a human can achieve is about 1.5 body lengths. The force on the legs at take-off can be up to 5 times the weight of the spider - this is amazing and if we can understand these biomechanics we can apply them to other areas of research.”

The researchers trained the spider, which they nicknamed Kim, to jump different heights and distances on a manmade platform in a laboratory environment. Kim belongs to a species of jumping arachnid known as Phidippus regius, or ‘Regal Jumping Spider’.