do spiders eat there own flesh?

Question

i put a spider inside a box for about a week then i totally forgot about it . the spider died of starvation. it is a tiny brown crab spider. when i again opend the box, i saw the spider dead loosing seven of his legs and no legs were found nearby in that box .what might really happend?

Answer 1

I have been studying spider behavior for several years now and i have never seen such a thing. The spider you are describing is probable Xysticus elegans, the elgant crab spider, they are very common. here are some scenarios I can think of to explain the situation.
Spiders molt as they grow, and I have noticed that under certain stress, the molting process may be altered. It is possible for spiders to regenerate lost legs during this process and I believe with the added stress of not feeding, its body may have been trying to save energy by making cutbacks....in this case on the number of legs it should produce. That would be my only logical guess. So, if you notice a molted skin in the jar, then thats possibly what happened.

Spiders cannot chew prey, and they cannot eat solid food, only semisolids and liquids. Even if the spider did eat its own legs to stay alive, it would have left the leg casing. Just like when we eat lobster, we leave the shell behind. So, the legs would have still been inside the container, just maybe a little thinner...ha ha

Other than that I dont see a real reason why the legs would be missing. It is possible that when it died, the legs curled under the body so tightly that you may not see them too well. This is very common in spiders, when they die, the legs curl up under them.

Well Im out of ideas, like I said I have never witnessed it or even thought about it till now so thanks alot fot the question it was definatly a good one! Good Luck!

Answer 2

Well, don't see why not, since:

"All crab spiders are carnivorous, eating small insects that tend to be attracted to flowering plants. You see, this is the Misumena Vatia’s strategy: it waits upon or within a chosen flower, its arms outstretched, until a suitable meal arrives, whatever flying insect it may be. Like all spiders, the crab spider’s fangs produce venom which paralyzes the victim so it may be dissolved (spiders liquefy the internal contents of their victims) and eventually drained for nutrients. The fangs also hold and penetrate the victim for feeding purposes."

With nothing else around to munch on, he might have had a *spidey snack*. So sorry!

Answer 3

end tripping out. and certain, there are species that eat one yet another for nutrition and nourishment such as some spiders. And that is likewise unlawful to eat someone, even if or not they reported that is okay. there changed into an honestly case of this the position a relatives changed into stuck in the mountains and some iced up to lack of existence. the persons ultimate resorted to cannibalism and were put in reformatory.

Answer 4

Not sure. I thought spiders injected their prey with venom that not only killed it, but also "pre-digested" it. Then the spider sucks what's left out for nutrition. How could the spider control the extent to which the venom acted? Also, would they not have a natural immunity to their own venom? Curious question. I'm going to guess: no.

Answer 5

He did not eat them, you did! Just kidding! That's weird I mean damn if you got left in a box to starve to death who knows what you might chew off.....If I was that spider I would have chewed through the box and ate you!

Answer 6

It might be , hunger makes people do horrible things- We humans know about these things better.

Answer 7

Who knows...maybe?

Answer 8

i dont think so.

Answer 9

no