Do spiders eat their web when hungry? if no other food source available.?

Answer 1

Yes.

But, they'll also do it whether or not a 'food source' is available.. sort of pulling-up a tent & moving. It's like recycling. It's re-using that energy/material to rebuild.

(Of course, this applies to the spiders that spin webs above ground -- nothing is absolute, in nature... as jumping spiders don't bother, cob-web spiders just leave them, as do grass spiders... or, the larger spiders like tarantulas or wolf spiders that just keep moving along)

Answer 2

Do Spiders Eat Their Webs

Answer 3

Some spiders eat their webs, some don't. The silk is a protein and the web-eating spiders recycle it. The business about eating solid or liquid food needs a little clarification. The spider can ingest (i.e. swallow) only liquid or semi-liquid food because its digestive tract is very small in diameter in the anterior part. It predigests its prey by injecting digestive juices into or onto it. Small spiders with weak mouthparts inject the digestive juices into the holes made by the fangs, then suck out the digested fluids. When they are through with the prey item it may consist of just a hollowed out exoskeleton showing no apparent damage except the fang holes where it was bitten. The digestive fluids come from the mouth, not through the fangs, the fangs only inject venom. In large spiders with strong mouthparts the prey is chewed (actually more torn) by the fangs and the remnants of the prey may be just a ball of fragments. The solid tissues have been digested and the liquid digested material swallowed. A big spider like a tarantula, fishing spider or giant crab spider can reduce a lizard, bird, fish, snake or young mammal to a damp ball about the size of a large pea. Going back to web eating, it appears that some spiders get extra food by eating the web to which may be clinging tiny insects that the spider ignored before because of their size, and some of them apparently even derive some nourishment from plant pollen that may be adhering to the web.

Answer 4

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RE:
Do spiders eat their web when hungry? if no other food source available.?

Answer 5

many web-builders eat their web regardless of whether they are hungry or not. For example, many spiders in the family Araneidae (Orb-weavers) recycle (eat) their web daily and remake it. This recycles proteins and provides the most effective trap as it has the newest silk.

However, not all spiders eat their web. Sheet weavers, such as those from the family Linyphiidae, simply leave their web and rebuild a new one every couple of days.

So, to answer your question, yes and no. Some of them do eat their webs, but not necessarily because they are 'hungry.'

Answer 6

Hi there.
There is no food value in the web, so they will never eat it for food. Some spiders can swallow and reabsorb the web and use the material to make a new one, but this is uncommon and once most web-spinning species have used up their natural web allowance, they starve and die.
Cheers, Steve.

Answer 7

I would say, no, they do not.

My reasoning for this is that I can't imagine how webs could provide any source of nutrients, and considering most spiders die during the winter time, they probably aren't eating their webs to stay alive, being as they are dead.

Answer 8

Yes, it's like a recycle, they eat the web but do another construction when they move on to another place.

Answer 9

I don't believe that there really is any nutritional value in the web. They often eat their webs to clear them out and make room to spin a new one.

Answer 10

i don't know but they must be really tasty as my rabbits love eating spiders webs!!!(not the actual spiders just the web)