The Hanging Fly

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missgecko
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:59 am
Location: Australia

The Hanging Fly

Post by missgecko »

I watched an orb spider waft across on the breeze from the side of our roof to a large bush and attach one very strong thick strand of web from roof to bush. It then went across to the middle of the single strand and dropped down until it reached the ground (about 7 feet). The dead fly was lying on the ground and the spider attached some web to its legs, then shimmied back up the web pulling the fly up as it went. About 2 feet from the top single strand, the spider stopped pulling up the fly and left it dangling. The spider then went ahead and spun its web starting at the one strong strand. This fly acted as a 'weight' for the spider while it spun the rest of its web. I've also seen it happen with a dead leaf. After two days I brought the fly inside and hung it between two glasses to get the photo and even then it still slowly spun around.

Image

Cheers
Sam

'To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour.' William Blake

Barry
Posts: 157
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:34 am
Location: Netherlands

Post by Barry »

Gorgeous image!
I like the light and colours - and the story behind it.

Best wishes,
Barry

Mitch640
Posts: 2137
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 1:43 pm

Post by Mitch640 »

Great shot, and I love the description of how the spider did it's work.

I guess this might answer some of the questions about how good a spiders long distance vision is, heh? If she can see details of a fly in among the ground litter, than it's far better than anything I have seen described before. I can't even see a dead fly at 7 feet. :)

rjlittlefield
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Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Sam, I agree -- nice image and I especially appreciate the story behind it.

Mitch, notice the part about "also seen it happen with a dead leaf". A simple explanation is that the spider just drops to the ground and rummages around to find something that can be lifted and has the right weight. No vision required.

--Rik

missgecko
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:59 am
Location: Australia

Post by missgecko »

Thanks everyone. It was really fascinating to watch - right place at the right time. The thing is I've seen leaves hanging from a single strand of web lots of times this summer and I've always thought they have just been randomly caught by the web. Now and I know better :D
Sam

'To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour.' William Blake

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