![]() In other cases, a spider-eating-spider may believe it has just found the beginning of a more ordinary spider's web. In some cases this may be a tiny, hatchling spider possibly on the hunt for stray scraps of food. This line is actually not sticky, but apparently makes an enticing path for other spiders to explore. When put to the test using a series of "dummy spiders," it was determined that the elongated shape of a twig spider with its legs held together is confusing to predatory and parasitic wasps, which already "have difficulty perceiving linear objects." It didn't matter if the spider stood out against a backdrop of sticks and leaves or not it was simply the shape of a straight, thin line that left wasps confused as to what exactly they were looking at.Īt night, when most wasps tuck themselves to bed, the twig stirs to life and begins her odd hunting strategy, dangling only a single silken line or two down to the ground. During the day, a female twig spider hangs motionless from just a couple strands of silk, looking very much like a stray twig caught in the remains of some long-gone spider's web.though this does not, surprisingly, appear to be the true "goal" of their camouflage.
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