Do spiders kill each other?

[Hesperider]

Apologies if this is a daft question but I'd appreciate some info please.

I had a lovely garden spider living in a pile of wood, he/she took flies from tweezers, never spun a 'proper' web, just a tangled mass of threads between the wooden stakes.

Today he/she disappeared and on investigating I found her deflated body and another much smaller spider lurking nearby. Small spider was dull brown, no significant markings and pretty nippy when chased! I'll get a picture if and when he/she comes back.

Many thanks for any help

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Hesperider

Apologies if this is a daft question but I'd appreciate some info please.

I had a lovely garden spider living in a pile of wood, he/she took flies from tweezers, never spun a 'proper' web, just a tangled mass of threads between the wooden stakes.

Today he/she disappeared and on investigating I found her deflated body and another much smaller spider lurking nearby. Small spider was dull brown, no significant markings and pretty nippy when chased! I'll get a picture if and when he/she comes back.

Many thanks for any help

Do bears...

Spiders are very agressive to almost any other living thing they can cope with. Eat their sisters, brothers, mothers and anything that moves. There is a thread open now about Enoplognatha ovata, that spider punches way above it's weight. Some species prey almost exclusively on other spiders.

[Jason Green]

Morning Hesperid,

Indeed they do... the Daddy Long-legs will happily eat all other species of spider found domestically. With a least the Common Garden Spider Araneus diadematus, after mating the male will be eaten by the female if he doesn't leave her web fast enough.

Take care,

Jason

[John_M]

In my house I have seen the daddy long legs spider, Pholcus phalangioides, eating both a Tegenaria sp, and a Steatoda nobilis, both species substantially larger than the daddy long legs. I think with Araneus diadematus the young eat the female after she dies; so yes, spiders definitely eat other spiders.
EDIT I seem to remember reading somewhere, that over the course of the winter, the daddy long legs will clear your house of most other spiders and insects.

[Geoff F]

But most spiders don't live very long and with some species this can be only a few months as an adult. So 'natural causes' may be the cause here.

Some other insects also kill spiders; like various wasps for instance, and of course various diseases take their toll.

[John_M]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

But most spiders don't live very long and with some species this can be only a few months as an adult. So 'natural causes' may be the cause here.

Some other insects also kill spiders; like various wasps for instance, and of course various diseases take their toll.

This is all very true.

[Venger]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

But most spiders don't live very long and with some species this can be only a few months as an adult. So 'natural causes' may be the cause here.

Some other insects also kill spiders; like various wasps for instance, and of course various diseases take their toll.

Depends on the species Geoff, some only live one season, others live for several years.

As for eating other spiders it depends on the spider species, some do, some don't.
Araneophagic behaviour is the technical term for it

[thunder]

Originally Posted by Hesperider

Today he/she disappeared and on investigating I found her deflated body and another much smaller spider lurking nearby. Small spider was dull brown, no significant markings and pretty nippy when chased! I'll get a picture if and when he/she comes back.

Many thanks for any help

The "deflated body" might have been the cast skin, your original spider having shed it to grow a bit. The much smaller spider could have been just another spider.

henrya