The horrifying moment a golden orb spider devours a brown tree snake has been caught on video.

Filmed by Cairns kite surfer Ant Hadleigh, the gruesome battle unfolds in mid-air after the half-metre long tree snake strayed into the arachnid’s path.

At one point, brave Hadleigh even positions his hand behind the writhing pair in order to give an idea of the scale of the duelling creatures.

Hadleigh told the Cairns Post: “I would have put my money on the snake for sure, especially seeing how big it was.

“You could see the spider just chewing into it and the part which the spider was eating had gone all black and the insides were bubbling.”

Hadleigh, who filmed the confrontation in a Freshwater backyard, added he had seen the same spider do battle with a wasp the day before.

He said: “The wasp kept trying to sting it, and it (the spider) used its feet to push the stinger away every time.”

Brrrrrr....