ballista

"The ballista spider's snare is bioengineered to store elastic energy in the silk and rapidly release it, giving it incredible instantaneous power density -- greater than any other specialized silk-based biological catapults," said Professor Narendra.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

The small nocturnal arachnid has been nicknamed the ballista spider after the ancient Roman siege weapon that launched bolts and stones using stored tension.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

Though it is yet to be formally named, scientists have nicknamed the tiny spider "ballista", after the ancient weapon used to hurl stones in battle.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

Although many people have identified the scorpion as a type of ballista, it lacks the torsion springs that ballistae use to thrust their projectile forward with such incredible force.

From Slate ● May 7, 2019

Percy glanced toward the stern and spotted Frank, in human form, peeking out from behind a ballista, waiting.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

“Scorpions,” ballistae developed by Hand of the Queen Qyburn, posed the primary threat to Drogon.

From Slate ● May 13, 2019

Although many people have identified the scorpion as a type of ballista, it lacks the torsion springs that ballistae use to thrust their projectile forward with such incredible force.

From Slate ● May 7, 2019

He wasn’t going to fire any random ballistae again.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

The engineers had built a stone fortress with an iron portcullis, guard towers, scorpion ballistae, water cannons, and no doubt many other nasty surprises for the defenders to use.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

It looked just like the illustrations Annabeth had seen in military history books—with a defensive trench lined with spikes, high walls, and watchtowers armed with scorpion ballistae.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan