barn spider...weird behavior

[cipioxx]

I have lurked here for the past 3 years or so and always found the site informative.
I recently setup a terrarium in a 10 gallon fish tank. I caught pretty much everything I could find in my yard(sowbugs: 15+, woolice 15+, woodlice killers 6, centipedes 10+, millipedes 10+, slugs 4, earthworms 6, small wolf spiders 2, barn spider\orb weaver 1) and I also bought 10 large crickets. My son caught the orb weaver today and put him in there. I know he doesn't like it and I will get him out once my son falls asleep. The weird thing is, one of the crickets died after an attach by a small wolf spider. The spider could not overpwer the cricket and it got away from him. I'm guessing the cricket was bitten and succumbed to the venom. Anyway, the barn spider was startled by a crikcet and began crawling around. He came across the dead cricket and started eating it. He has been for like 1hr so far. I didn't think that he would eat stuff not caught in his web, and especially something it came across on the ground. Has anyone else seen this type of behavior? Sorry for rambling, but I found it interesting...
This is the barn spider\orb weaver that is eating the dead cricket. http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=81735
Sorry in advance if pasting another thread here is against the rules....

 

[KUJordan]

that is interesting, and it does seem odd that an Araneid would not be far too stressed and out of its element to stop and take advantage of a meal on the ground. i'm glad you made note of that!

 

[diadematus]

Anyway, the barn spider was startled by a crikcet and began crawling around. He came across the dead cricket and started eating it. He has been for like 1hr so far. I didn't think that he would eat stuff not caught in his web, and especially something it came across on the ground. Has anyone else seen this type of behavior?

Doesn't seem unusual to me. My Araneus so likes buzzing flies that she will take them more or less out of my tweezers. I'm also fairly certain that she has devoured dead prey (in the net, that is true) that she had earlier overlooked.

Perhaps she was quite hungry? And I think that newly placed in a captive environment, all bets are off as to traditional behavior -- at least in the beginning.

-Kevin