This illustrates in detail—perhaps more detail than you ever wanted to see—how the spider wraps its prey. This small moth was caught in the web just moments before. The spider detected the moth’s presence by sensing the movement of the web rather than by sight (it was dark, after 9:00 p.m. EST). The spider moved quickly to bite the moth and paralyze it (but not kill it) with venom. In a matter of seconds the spider was wrapping the moth. The five photographs on this page all depict silk issuing from Neoscona crucifera’s spinnerets in both strands (as above) and sheets. The last photo on this page is a different bit of prey, a small June beetle that the spider captured immediately after wrapping the moth.



The first two photos, immediately above and below this text, illustrate how the spider handles the prey. The spider first applies several tightly wound filamets of silk to the front of the prey's head and the tip of its abdomen. The photos show that this silk is thicker than the silk issuing from the spinnerets. The spider uses the strong, heavy silk as one might use a spit for meat—it can rotate the prey it. The spider is also grasping these heavy strands with two of its tarsal claws. The spider appears to be using four of its eight legs to grasp its web and stabilize itself while the other four legs are being used to spin the prey and manipulate the silk.