Monday, June 16, 2025

Sexual Cannibalism . . .in Spiders


Early morning and I found what appeared to be a paralyzed  or dead spider on the mat by the door out to the deck. And there on the door above me was the biggest Wolf Spider I've ever seen--the size of my hand with fingers outstretched. 

I carried the mat outside and got a closer look. Yep, definitely deceased. And eviscerated.

By the time I got my camera, the giant spider had disappeared and has not come out of hiding. 

I hypothesized that perhaps this was a situation like preying mantises and the male spider had paid for his fun. A little online research confirmed that this is a definite possibility. Read it for yourself HERE.

She did a thorough job.


 

4 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

What a odd world!

Barbara Rogers said...

Now that's the last thing I expected to see on Monday morning!

Vicki Lane said...

Mother Nature is full of surprises.

Marcia said...

The "ew" factor kicked in when you described the size of the live spider.