- Joined
- Feb 25, 2016
- Messages
- 1,217
They indeed have a fascinating threat response -- fly about in a crazy circle, then if the intruder doesn't leave, drop and run. Sadly, I discovered for all of that, they are very fragile creatures. I tried to capture one in a vending machine area where someone might "clean it away" to bring to my desk and somehow, in putting a cup over it to capture it, I killed it. I am generally very good with this and if I ever killed a creature in my capture attempts, it was in childhood longer ago than I recall. I hoped at first this was just another stage of it's defense -- to play dead. I brought it out of its container at my desk, hoping it would suddenly take off, but it remained still. I could see no evidence of damage -- I hadn't squished it! -- and proceeded to gently touch it. Four of its legs fell off. I feel like a monster.I share a deep respect for this genus as well, and have several billion in my concrete building in Ontario Canada. They are the only spiders with webs in the P2 parking garage, and even though they are now filled with black soot, they'll make a new one tomorrow. The pollution takes several days to stick to their non-sticky webs, so they rule supreme down there.
It's their defense thrashing technique that amazes me. It's tough to trigger, but I've been able to pull at some out-lying webs, and triggered a couple of quick corner dashes from the Pholcid. It's deliberately tugging, in case what it feels me doing is actually a lurking spider. If that spider wanders further in, she'll dash in, thrashing much faster. This is to both create chaos on it's own terms, and assess the situation. Most spiders would be thrown off by the lack of sticky webs - likely (to me) it would feel like old webbing, and have little support for the victim here.
And as I just learned, this would be where the nips would come in. Tangling their prey up, nipping whenever close enough. Those thin wiry legs can help keep a distance, or pull in. I always figured they just tangled enough to eventually get one good bite in. Nipping would help with subdue ETA.
In the event this prey is too much to handle, they fold up all their legs, and pass through the web to wherever gravity takes them. It's fun to try and catch these guys, only to have them slip like water off my hands. It actually makes them tough to show off to arachnophobic people...
"See they-- whoa hold on, gotcha-- they are harm-- whoa again, slippery little-- harmless crea-- WHOA-- that's your shirt! HarmlesscreaturesthatwouldnteventrytohurtyouSorry!"
And now everyone is running from the guy who is throwing the most poisonous spiders down the shirts of random people.