The terrifying real-life beasts with better superpowers than Tom Holland's Spider-Man

Power couple Tom Holland and Zendaya are back on the big screen in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. They star as Peter Parker, who moonlights as the spidery superhero, and his ex-girlfriend Michelle MJ Jones-Watson.

Spidey is famed for his super-strength, agility and talent for sticking to walls and buildings. But are his powers any more impressive than a real spiders? Here Meg Jorsh investigates

Great leaps: The Portia jumping spider can leap 50 times its own length, thanks to a hydraulic system that increases its blood pressure, forcing fluid into its legs.

Found in rainforests from Australia to Sri Lanka, it also has great mapping skills and incredibly sharp eyesight.

Bells and whistles: The diving bell spider is the only species known to live almost entirely underwater.

But it doesnt have gills instead it builds a bell-shaped web between plant stems and fills it with air, which it traps between body hairs when it surfaces once a day.

Scene steeler: The Darwins bark spider produces the toughest biological material ever discovered.

Ten times stronger than Kevlar and twice as durable as steel, the critters amazing silk allows it to spin webs up to 25 metres (82 feet) long across the rivers of Madagascar.

Blooming marvellous: The female flower crab spider can change colour from white to yellow, pale green or pink to match its environment.

Found in the southern UK, it doesnt bother spinning webs, instead lying in wait for prey while camouflaged against flowers and foliage.

Love cheats: The Bolas spider is the catfish of the arachnid world.

Instead of spinning a web, the female releases a chemical compound that perfectly imitates the sex hormones of a female moth.

She then snags the randy males with a sticky silk ball when they come looking for romance.

Party animal: The male peacock spider can disco dance. Its not a superpower as such, but the colourful arachnid deserves points for style.

He struts his stuff to win over a female, despite the fact shes liable to kill him if displeased or even if shes peckish after mating.

Super fly: Did you know baby spiders can fly by ballooning?

They climb to a high point and release strands of silk, so the wind and the Earths electrical fields lift them into the air.

It helps them spread over a wide area, so they dont have to compete with their siblings.

Liquid assets: The fishing spider can walk on water, spreading out its weight with moisture-repellent leg hairs to avoid breaking the surface tension.

It uses the surface of swamps and ponds like a web, feeling for vibrations from prey like insects, tadpoles and small fish.

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