I was out taking pictures of Pogonomyrmex colonies this morning in the dry bed of the Agua Fria River near Phoenix, AZ. I found a nest with a dead (?) ant suspended in a spider web which was spread over the nest entrance. Another harvester came and seemed to work at the web containing the dead ant:
It's not that unusual to find webs and dead ants around harvester nests. Many of them are killed by Euryopis spiders, who evidently specialize in eating ants. This time, though, I saw the spider (a male):
The ant that was working at the web ran away, and the spider started to feed on the dead ant:
The other ants in the nest stayed clustered around the nest entrance while this was going on. Occassionally something would startle the spider, who would run away from his prey for 3-4 inches, pause for a few seconds, then walk back to his prey and resume eating.
[revised the title] --antdude
It's not that unusual to find webs and dead ants around harvester nests. Many of them are killed by Euryopis spiders, who evidently specialize in eating ants. This time, though, I saw the spider (a male):
The ant that was working at the web ran away, and the spider started to feed on the dead ant:
The other ants in the nest stayed clustered around the nest entrance while this was going on. Occassionally something would startle the spider, who would run away from his prey for 3-4 inches, pause for a few seconds, then walk back to his prey and resume eating.
[revised the title] --antdude
