WEBVTT

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[piano music] This golden orb weaver, a type of spider, is seemingly doing
the unthinkable - eating its own web.

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But on a more careful examination, you and I will see that this behavior isn't
what it appears to be, and on the contrary, is quite important

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to the spider's survival.

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[piano music]

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Let's back up and take a wider view for some context. Spider biology indicates
to you and me that the large spider in the middle of this web is female.

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The smaller spider above her is her mate. The female is the one who
constructed this web.

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But to interpret the behavior we saw previously from the female spider, we'll
have to take notice of the web itself.

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Pay special attention to the orientation of the web. Golden orb weavers have
been known to create both vertical and horizontal webs,

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but this particular web is vertical. That means that this spider is focusing
her efforts on catching flying insects rather than crawling ones.

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But if it's flying insects she's after, it remains to be seen why here she
appears to be eating her own web. Let's fast forward.

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[piano music]

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Take notice of what she's doing now. From this angle, we can see that she's
producing new strands of her web after destroying it only moments earlier.

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This, along with the fact that many flying insects are active during the day,
indicates that the web was likely damaged when one such insect flew

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into it and was trapped, meaning that in all likelihood this golden orb weaver
not only had a recent meal, but is now preparing her web for its next victim.

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This is not at all uncommon. Golden orb weavers typically have to re-create
half of their web each day as a result of the damage caused by trapped insects.

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When flying insects are their target, warm days may result in a significant
amount of web construction.

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Such a specific hunting strategy based on the spider's preferred prey is a
good reminder to you and I that many animal behaviors are closely tied to

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behavioral preferences on a population or even individual level. And until
next time, remember that things aren't discovered by being seen, but by

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being noticed.

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[piano music]

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[piano music fades out]

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[silence]