Tiny Spider Subdues and Consumes Pygmy Shrew in Gruesome Display

According to a 2023 study, the noble false widow spider (Steatoda nobilis) has been found to habitually prey on vertebrates, including lizards, bats, and now shrews. Researchers recently recorded a shocking incident in southern England where a female noble false widow spider subdued and consumed a pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus).

The pygmy shrew, typically measuring around 5 centimeters (2 inches) in length plus a 4-centimeter-long tail, is more than triple the size of the 1.4-centimeter noble false widow spider. Despite the size difference, the spider was able to overpower the shrew using its potent neurotoxic venom and extremely strong silk.

The researchers observed the spider moving back and forth between the shrew and the rafters above the window, using silk to hoist the shrew upward about 25 centimeters. After 20 minutes, the spider had lifted its prey into the rafters, partially out of view, where it wrapped the shrew in silk and fed on it for three days. The remains of the shrew were later found to be "nothing but fur, bones, and skin".

This is the first time any member of the spider family Theridiidae has been recorded preying on a shrew in Ireland or Britain, and the first time any species of false widow spider has been reported preying on a shrew anywhere on Earth. The researchers say this observation demonstrates the noble false widow's adaptations for "habitual vertebrate predation", combining its venom, silk, and complex hunting behavior to take down large prey.