A spider puts up a web, attaching it to branches of trees or bushes or parts of a house or whatever. Along comes a large animal who blunders into the web, detaching it from one or more of its anchors. Or perhaps a tree branch breaks off the tree or something. Anyway, somehow the web is partly destroyed and it wraps itself around the spider sitting in the middle.
Is the spider toast, caught up in its own sticky web? Or do they have a way to extract themselves from their own webs?
I can’t image that they wouldn’t be able to escape, seeing how this is a fairly common occurance. What do they do?
*Dispatcher: Arachno 911. What is the nature of your emergency?
Caller: My husband is trapped! A dog walked by the web, and he hit it with his tail, and now Bill is all twisted up…
Dispatcher: Stay calm, Ma’am. What is your name and address?
Caller: Mary Multilegs. 228 Webster Circle, out back, by the swingset.
Dispatcher: Help is on the way, Ma’am.
Radio: Rescue box 10-76. Attention Engine 10, Rescue 10, Ladder 10, Rescue 31, Squad 154. Address of incident 228 Webster Circle, in the rear, a domestic rescue.*
I’ve heard that before they make a new web spiders eat the old one – conservation of energy and all that. So I’d guess they can just eat their way out of a tangle. Anytime I break a garden web it seems to turn up good as new next day, if it’s right across the path it seems to take two or three days before they decide to set the web up elsewhere. I always assumed that web destruction was common enough that they would have a way to cope.
However, regarding the OP, I suspect that a spider that got its body stuck to its own web or that of another spider might be in trouble if it could not bring its mouth to the thread to eat it. I am not aware of any special structures on a spider’s body that would keep it from getting stuck. On the other hand, I don’t think that this is something that happens very often. Spiders are extremely agile, and I think they would usually be able to avoid being caught when their web is damaged.
Anyone else reminded of the Far Side cartoon with the spider stuck in the web and on phone saying, “Never mind how it happened! Just get your abdomen over here and get me unstuck!”?
When I break spider webs (usually accidently) the wind often causes the web to get in a big tangle. And the spider is right there in the middle of it. But it just occured to me that perhaps the section near the center of the web is not sticky, so it can eat its way out without trouble. Anyone know if that’s the case?