4 ms·

I'd like a spider cam. I find it a great mystery how spiders survive in rooms which seem absolutely empty/abandoned etc.

by op03 6y ago

lanius 6y ago
Ditto for cockroaches. I'm curious where those little buggers disappear to when they manage to escape from me.
throwanem 6y ago
Often they can survive quite a while without food or water, as long as the temperature and humidity are within some fairly generous extremes, although very dry air poses the risk of dehydration since their respiratory systems and body volume offer little ability to retain a reserve. But they rarely have to go that long without a meal, because if a spider can get in, so can suitably sized prey - and will. Next time you find yourself wondering how a spider thrives in an empty room, take a close look at and under her web. Most likely you'll find cocooned prey in both places - fresher prey items in the web, spent ones underneath it. Spinning a web is a metabolically very expensive process, requiring as it does a great deal of protein - protein which can only be recovered by either eating the spun silk again, or eating prey trapped by it. Spiders consequently have to be pretty smart about where and how they do it, because the ones who aren't tend not to reproduce. So it's usually a very safe bet that, wherever you see a spider web, it's there because that's where the prey tends to be. It can be interesting to see what sort of prey that is - for example, right now in the basement of my ~130-year-old house there are a couple of very happy cellar spiders enjoying a steady diet of pill bugs, and another by the kitchen radiator who all on her own solved most of an ant problem for me before I ever realized I had it. They're actually very desirable animals to have around, in my thoroughly considered opinion, despite getting about as bad a name as wasps - and with just as little reason.
- op03 6y ago
  wow had no idea they eat the silk. They are so small that I only notice them because of the webs and long strands flying around. I'll keep an eye out for their prey :) Thanks for that interesting info filled comment!

I'd like a spider cam. I find it a great mystery how spiders survive in rooms which seem absolutely empty/abandoned etc.

by op03 6y ago

I'd like a spider cam. I find it a great mystery how spiders survive in rooms which seem absolutely empty/abandoned etc.

lanius 6y ago

Ditto for cockroaches. I'm curious where those little buggers disappear to when they manage to escape from me.

throwanem 6y ago

Often they can survive quite a while without food or water, as long as the temperature and humidity are within some fairly generous extremes, although very dry air poses the risk of dehydration since their respiratory systems and body volume offer little ability to retain a reserve. But they rarely have to go that long without a meal, because if a spider can get in, so can suitably sized prey - and will. Next time you find yourself wondering how a spider thrives in an empty room, take a close look at and under her web. Most likely you'll find cocooned prey in both places - fresher prey items in the web, spent ones underneath it. Spinning a web is a metabolically very expensive process, requiring as it does a great deal of protein - protein which can only be recovered by either eating the spun silk again, or eating prey trapped by it. Spiders consequently have to be pretty smart about where and how they do it, because the ones who aren't tend not to reproduce. So it's usually a very safe bet that, wherever you see a spider web, it's there because that's where the prey tends to be. It can be interesting to see what sort of prey that is - for example, right now in the basement of my ~130-year-old house there are a couple of very happy cellar spiders enjoying a steady diet of pill bugs, and another by the kitchen radiator who all on her own solved most of an ant problem for me before I ever realized I had it. They're actually very desirable animals to have around, in my thoroughly considered opinion, despite getting about as bad a name as wasps - and with just as little reason.

op03 6y ago
wow had no idea they eat the silk. They are so small that I only notice them because of the webs and long strands flying around. I'll keep an eye out for their prey :) Thanks for that interesting info filled comment!