# What was this spider doing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433 "2018-11-12T23:08:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/1 "2018-11-12T23:08:03Z")
Yesterday morning, I saw a spider nestled in the corner of a door frame. It had surrounded itself with a small pocket of web, just big enough to enclose itself. At the time, it looked as though it might be dead: It wasn’t moving at all. The next time I took a look, about a half-hour later, it had opened up a hole in the top of the pocket, and departed for parts unknown. [Picture](https://photos.app.goo.gl/TKimDXvN5P51wjoE9) So the question is, what was the purpose of this web? It can hardly have been to hide the spider: The web was barely even visible. To protect it against predators while it slept? I’d imagine that anything that would eat a spider would go right through a web without noticing it. To catch food? Anything that got that close, it could just attack with its limbs. A place to lay eggs? But there don’t seem to be any eggs in it, now that the spider is gone. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/2 "2018-11-12T23:14:00Z")
Maybe she was spinning (or folding) an egg sac? [Spider spinning an egg sac. Exclusive footage. - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obS9hlkbRXA) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/3 "2018-11-12T23:36:38Z")
I think she was laying the foundation for a big web and you scared her off. Or she moved on to a less traffic-y spot. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/4 "2018-11-13T18:46:47Z")
I think it was to keep bugs from walking on her while she was sleeping. You know how hard it is to sleep once you think that little itch might actually be a bug walking on you?! ;-). ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/5 "2018-11-13T18:57:27Z")
Summing Satan to eliminate all the humans in the house? Because spiders do that. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/6 "2018-11-13T20:37:55Z")
I thought they did that when they were getting ready to molt. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/7 "2018-11-13T20:40:25Z")
I had no idea spiders summoned Satan when preparing to molt. However, this does not surprise me. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/8 "2018-11-13T20:49:06Z")
It looks like a Clubionid or sac spider. They make little web retreats for molting, laying eggs, but also just to spend the day. They’re mostly active nocturnal hunters, who use webs exclusively to build shelters not to hunt with. They’re harmless and useful pest controls to have around, but do tend to leave little abandoned web cells everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/9 "2018-11-13T21:09:35Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I had no idea spiders summoned Satan when preparing to molt. However, this does not surprise me. Ignorance fought? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/10 "2018-11-14T02:55:32Z")
OK, so it’s shelter. But what is it sheltering from? I can’t see that web keeping out weather or hostile animals. And nocturnal doesn’t fit when I saw it: It was in the web first thing in the morning, and then left it some time around dawn. > [@](#): > > They’re harmless and useful pest controls to have around, but do tend to leave little abandoned web cells everywhere. Yup, I don’t know exactly where it went, but I take comfort in the knowledge that it’s around here somewhere, doing its job. Spiders are not feared or dreaded in this household. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/11 "2018-11-14T19:02:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Picture](https://photos.app.goo.gl/TKimDXvN5P51wjoE9) > > So the question is, what was the purpose of this web? “Shields UP, Captain!” Looks like a little force field! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/12 "2018-11-14T20:40:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, so it’s shelter. But what is it sheltering from? I can’t see that web keeping out weather or hostile animals. And nocturnal doesn’t fit when I saw it: It was in the web first thing in the morning, and then left it some time around dawn. > Yup, I don’t know exactly where it went, but I take comfort in the knowledge that it’s around here somewhere, doing its job. Spiders are not feared or dreaded in this household. You wouldn’t feel the same way if a spider killed your dad. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/13 "2018-11-14T20:55:32Z")
I wonder how much it costs the spider to make that much webbing. I vote for eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/14 "2018-11-14T20:59:14Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I wonder how much it costs the spider to make that much webbing. > > I vote for eggs. It’s less expensive now that AirBnB has started supporting arachnids. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/15 "2018-11-14T21:11:32Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > It’s less expensive now that AirBnB has started supporting arachnids. That’s good to know! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/16 "2018-11-15T00:13:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Sailboat** : > > “Shields UP, Captain!” Looks like a little force field! Huh, and I had always figured that Protoss dragoons were bigger than that. But yeah, looking at my computer screen, that’s about the right size. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-spider-doing/824433/17 "2018-11-15T00:22:14Z")
Somewhere on the SpiderDope, a spider is typing: “What was this human doing? I was spinning eggs sacs and then…”