Page 114 - The Miracle in the Spider

114 THE MIRACLE IN THE SPIDER

Paralysing the Prey and Digestion
The spider completely wraps the animals which get caught in the
web in another thread, which it produces after they become well stuck to
the web. Then it takes the prey in its fangs and fills it full of venom, killing
it.
The spider can only digest liquids. Tiny particles larger than one-
thousandth of a millimetre are filtered out by hairs around its mouth. So,
it is necessary for the spider to liquefy this creatures' tissues before it can
digest them. For this reason the spider pulls apart the insect's tissues with
digestive enzymes. Once the tissues have become fluid enough, it takes in
the liquid thanks to its very strong sucking system. For example, after
killing a bee, the Misumenoides Formosiges spider opens two holes, one in
its head or neck, the other in its abdomen. Then it sucks the juices in the
bee's body up through these holes.
The spider mixes the tissues it has sucked up with the digestive
juices in its body. When the force of vacuum in the victim's body grows
greater than the spider's sucking power, the spider relaxes the sucking
muscles around its stomach. This allows some of the digestive juices
within the spider's body to enter different parts of the bee's body, where
they dissolve the tissues there too. Then the spider sucks through the
other hole in its abdomen. The rotation continues until the bee is
completely emptied. Beyond simply being a source of food for the spider,
the bee's body becomes part of the spider's digestive system, a temporary
extension of it. Finally the
bee comes to resemble an
empty egg shell; nothing
remains of it but a shell.
Insects are not spiders'
only prey. Frogs, mice, fish,
snakes, or small birds can
all fall victim to spiders.
Spiders known as "bird
Tarantulas kill their prey by paralysing it.