I was late to work this morning because a tiny drama was playing out in my window:
A moth had been flying around our bedroom for a couple of nights. This morning I found it on the edge of death on the bathroom counter. I decided to see just how ballsy our little pet black house spider is.
It’s a Badumna insignis, black house spider. Or, Badumna insignis, “said to be a favourite food of the white-tailed spider.” I’m glad it hasn’t gotten eaten by that white-tail I accidentally let loose in the house…
As for toughness? It turns out, very.
I placed the moth in the web an inch or two above the entrance to Mr Spider’s hidey hole. He became alert immediately. Once he gathered the gumption to strike, he darted out and grabbed hold of the tip of one of the moth’s wings. And pulled.
This standoff lasted about 10 minutes. With a brief struggle, the moth gave way and was dragged partly into the entrance of the spider’s house.
Another ten minutes passed and I decided I ought to get to work. I set the gopro up wedged into the curtain rod above the window and hoped that more action would take place before the battery ran down. I doubt that it did, but Ben provided me with updates throughout the morning as it unfolded.
Ben: spider is eating/preserving the moth
me: yes!!!
Ben: nom nom
and the spider is back in its home
I wonder what will happen now
oh!
spider back on the moth now
I’ll see what’s left of the moth when I get home.
This whole drama played out in the lower left corner of the upper panel of our kitchen window.
I like the textured glass stuff. Is it an applique? Would you say it still allows about as much light in, or does it really darken things? I’ve got a couple candidate windows for it right here.
It’s not an appliqué, unfortunately. It’s the glass’ actual texture. I wish it were an appliqué (I’d apply it to the top halves) as it lets just as much light in, I think.
So what happens to the moth? Does the spider keep it as a buffet? Does the spider gorge itself and expand and not eat for a long time? Does the moth stay alive and metabolizing somehow?
We saw the spider feasting on it several times over the next day or so. The moth was definitely dead, though, and the spider eventually cut it out of the web and dropped it.
The spider definitely went up a size or two, and for a couple of days we couldn’t find it in its house. Turns out it relocated to a more spacious home in the top of the window :)