Mini predators

Ants: There are over a million ants to every person on the planet and these tiny creatures present the worlds greatest army. Slave maker ants take the larva of other ants and rear the off-spring to a life of servitude, meat eater ants make super-nests that stretch over half a kilometer while fire ants administer blister raising stings. Spiders: Stocky, hairy trap door spiders lay in wait – burrow openings fitted with a hinged lid. When an unsuspecting insect wanders by it can launch itself and pounce in 0.03 seconds. Tiny hairless crab spiders have two rows of four eyes and can rotate each of these eight eyes independently – keenly homing in on prey before it ambushes it, while the golden orb spiders weave magnificent gleaming webs to ensnare their prey. Leaches: From tiny almost imperceptible dots to the bright stripes of the tiger leach and the 30cm bloated body of the giant leach, in the streams, rivers and oceans of the world these amazing segmented worms are sucking the blood from anything that passes by.