ENT 532 Fall 2024: Spider Observations

Series of observations made on two orb weaver spiders. In an attempt to collect both of them the larger spider had latched onto the smaller one, slowly killing it with its' venom. Collected from Farley's Point, NY, off the tarp of a boat lift (09/14/2024).

Detailed Events: 12pm: Sunny day. Collected from the motor boat canopy. Larger spider collected from the front right and the smaller one from the back left. As I attempted to collect both specimens, the larger spider immediately took hold of the smaller one upon contact. It clamped its jaws into the other's thorax(?). After a moment, its jaws started glistening - likely venom. Smaller one struggled at first but quickly became subdued. Legs started to curl in and body shrunk. When moved, the bigger spider dragged the smaller one along with the help of some of its web. 50 minutes later and the smaller spider has completely shriveled. One leg has fallen off. 10 minutes later I notice the bigger spider eating(?) the leg! It uses its front grabbing mouthparts to reposition the leg while it uses a strand of silk from its abdomen to keep it in place. I added some dead leaves from my spider plant at 3:20. It immediately climbed to the top of the leaves. After not much activity, spider was placed in the freezer at 5:28pm. I noticed that the leg had remained. Upon reflection, I was surprised to see that the leg was still there. Is there a reason why the spider had not ended up eating it?

Works

Creators
  1. Kat Wysnewski
Deposited September 26, 2024
Access
Open Access
movie
Creators
  1. Kat Wysnewski
Deposited September 26, 2024
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Kat Wysnewski
Deposited September 26, 2024
Access
Open Access

Metadata

Title ENT 532 Fall 2024: Spider Observations
Creator
  1. Kat Wysnewski
Keyword
  1. ENT532
DOI doi:10.26207/4es5-1896
Deposited at September 26, 2024

Analytics