Tuesday 24 April 2012

The Spider And The Fly - My World


Do My World pictures have to be beautiful?
Can they be about something I found fascinating?

While having my muesli breakfast in the conservatory I heard a very faint buzzing sound. I looked around me and saw nothing that could be the source of the low buzz; following my ears, I came upon the scene of murder most foul: a tiny spider was busily circling a still (just) living fly three times its size, the noise came from the fly's vibrating wings. Round and round the spider went, even climbing up on to the fly and spending a long time near it's front end. (Do flies have faces?) The buzzing got fainter and fainter.




Eventually, the deed was done, the spider went off, under the rim of the shelf, leaving the dead fly behind. There wasn't a spider's web, there were no silver threads and I could see no nest. But I was curious to find out what would happen to the fly, why it had to be killed.





I have no idea how the spider did it, I saw neither pulleys nor strings, nor any kind of mechanical device; nor did he call for his relations to come and help him shift the massive weight of the fly.

But the next time I looked, the fly corpse had moved right to the edge of the shelf. There was no draught to shift it. The corpse was still there an hour later, I couldn't bear it any longer. I got rid of it.

I hope there are no starving spider babies cursing me.





(Sorry Folks)


50 comments:

  1. Oh, I don't know, Friko. I'd say there definitely are some spider babies cursing you.
    Very interesting and unusual post!
    K

    ReplyDelete
  2. "muesli breakfast in the conservatory"...sounds just like the beginning if a mystery novel to someone like me on the other side of the 'pond.' Murder most foul, indeed! I LOVE British mysteries so you had me from the beginning even though the end result was bug removal!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Observing nature has a beauty all of its own. - Margy

    ReplyDelete
  4. "She wouldn't hurt a fly."

    Your heart is great, Friko



    Aloha from Waikiki
    Comfort Spiral

    > < } } (°>

    ><}}(°>

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Feed me, feed me" say the spider babies. These life and death tales are all around us, in the conservatory and in the garden. Thanks for showing us this mysterious one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Seems to me muesli and dead flies are pretty much the same. Breakfast for someone. I wouldn't worry about the spider babies, the spider had sucked that fly dry long before you moved it.
    Sort of a brutal morning when you think about it. Something must die for something else to live. The way of the universe.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nature is nature, whatever you do to defeat it. I guess the spider was hungry.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have faint memories of stories of spiders and flies, but they didn't turn out quite like this. Your story was MUCH more suspense-filled. And then the human element intervened. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. What an interesting deed to unfold before your very eyes.. and now ours. Fine captures of an event most of us never see.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Now that is fascinating. Yes, not so pretty as your countryside, but just as surely a bit of nature. And here I thought, for spiders, that catching prey in a web was de rigueur. I bet an entomology magazine would snap this up!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Can't say that I am caught in your web, dear Friko. But you did so craftily set the hook and reel me in to the very end. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I wouldn't worry about those spider babies, as I'm sure there are more tasty morsels awaiting them. Really interesting photos. I find things of this nature fascinating . . . a little creepy, but fascinating. Spiders are amazing creatures.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I do not believe I have ever seen spider/fly pictures before. I do not like spiders...nor flies. Fascinating though

    ReplyDelete
  14. oh i was so waiting for the feast pictures....haha...nice captures friko

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm not a big spider fan but I couldn't help but think...after all that work... ;) But I am not a big fly fan, either. Can't blame you for not wanting to look at the body.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What's to be sorry about? This is a great post! Given the lack of web, maybe the fly got injected with spider venom. Does that sound plausible?

    More blood and guts stories please.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Darn it Friko!
    I love watching my spiders do their deeds. They are so efficient and beautiful to watch.
    Chapter 2 would have been most interesting.
    Murder in the Conservatory. You devil you.
    XO
    WWW

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh no, I was afraid to look at this post. I hate spiders. They are so alien! You couldn't make it up how sinister it all is. I feel scarred for life :-)
    Di
    X

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well, that was unusual! Nature is all about survival...

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am sure some expert on spiders will be able to tell you how exactly the deed was done.
    Or maybe we need a special investigator for the world of insects to solve the How and Why.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Having proof of whodunnit isn't enough these days. We need the how and why to be thoroughly investigated. Seems like we need an expert witness!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hello:
    Maybe no starving baby spiders, but we do wonder how Widow Fly and her children are coping?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Always good to read about your world, Friko. This time, under the magnifying glass.

    ReplyDelete
  24. A sinister tale indeed. Glad the fly didn't have a face of a human on it. Ha!!
    Shades of "The Fly"...movie
    Hugs
    SueAnn

    ReplyDelete
  25. I don't mind having spiders in the house because without them we'd have a lot more flies, but I prefer to let them dine in private!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Murderous spider she is! I'd love to have her in my house. You think she has a sister I can adopt in New England? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Friko, thank you very much for this very close up view of a part of your world.

    I am wondering just how the spider did corner the fly. The prequel to the episode you viewed?

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  28. Every day Jerry and I walk down the road past the cow pasture where there are 5 beef cattle grazing. Next year, if we are still around, we will see 5 different beef cattle grazing. This years succulent beef flanks and loins will be distributed in various freezers.

    We all gotta eat.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I found this post very interesting and certainly unusual as well as unexpected. I have a love/hate relationship with spiders as they do help to keep other insects under control -- unfortunately they do cause me to 'pull of face' of distaste whenever I do see them -- including while reading this post!:-)

    ReplyDelete
  30. "Come into my parlour" said the spider to the fly .....

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hi Friko .. you'd waited so long - I'd have hung on .. I'm sure the whole would have gone - two wings left?!

    Well I'm happy to have more posts like this! Cheers .. Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  32. um yes flies have faces. have you ever seen The Fly with Geoff Goldblum? you should probably check the face next time. the insect world is a savage place alright!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Two flies in one day in my blog roll! :-)
    Have a look Friko:
    http://birdsfod.blogspot.com/
    This one was more lucky! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  34. I don't know about spider babies, but I should think one grown up spider is cursing you. I went to stay in a cottage recently which hadn't been lived in for a few weeks and found a HUGE spider in the bath surrounded by the corpses of other spiders. Ugh! I fished him out and ran his ex-enemies down the plug hole.

    I've answered your question about London by the way, it's in the comments on my post about hotels and b&bs. let me know how you get on!

    ReplyDelete
  35. I have difficulty seeing anything get the chop, but flies are nasty, noisome things so my sympathy is with the spider who must feed her children. Dianne

    ReplyDelete
  36. I think that the spider had injected the fly, which is why it flapping its wings. By the way, you have spoilt the spider lunch, dinner and breakfast, lol. Brilliant photos.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Wonderful post Friko - love the macro feature, and I think the blood thirsty Georgia Little Pea offered the answer on "how" madam spider 'did it'. If this ever happens again, PLEASE lower your standards and keep watching (I wanted to know what happened!)

    ReplyDelete
  38. Your photos are gorgeous Friko...and, although I can't stand spiders or flies...at least I was able to look at those insects a little through your eyes and not scream in terror. Smiles - Astrid

    ReplyDelete
  39. Nature red in tooth and claw. . . or whatever it is spiders have. (She's lurking under your pillow, Friko, to exact her revenge...

    ReplyDelete
  40. I would have sent my cat Pookie in the room, close the door, hide somewhere and wait until she had cleaned fly and spider (she love spiders) !

    ReplyDelete
  41. ich selbst rette die Fliegen immer, wenn sie noch am Leben sind, denn sie erleben einen grausamen Tod und Natur hin oder her, ich kann da nicht zusehen. Die Spinne sticht die Fliege, sagt man, und dieses Gift lähmt die Fliege dann und was danach kommt, ich kann nicht daran denken... Aber ich töte auch die Spinnen nicht, sie werden aber von mir vor die Tür gesetzt.
    Dir einen guten und schönen Abend!
    Renée

    ReplyDelete
  42. Ein gelungener Blick in die Welt, erinnert an "Origin of the Species". Wir haben gerade einige unserer Blumen an Raupen verfüttert, und jetzt weiß unser Sohn wie Schmetterlinge "gemacht werden". Einen guten Freitag dir.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Oh - I loved this. (And would expect no less from your inquiring mind...)

    ReplyDelete
  44. This evening I can count 13 spider bites on myself.
    If I'd been in your place I'd have squished the spider.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Spiders make me shudder but if they're engaged in nefarious deeds - other than making me jump, that is - I can watch for hours. Friko, you have starving spiderlings on your conscience;-)

    ReplyDelete
  46. I've had a little spider living in the corner of my desk for a few weeks. It's a tiny thing, and doesn't seem to do much except hang out, but it must be making a living somehow. I think I'll continue to let it be, just in case there are babies around!

    ReplyDelete
  47. This was so funny... you finally had to get rid of it. And what of the spider!!! I would have swatted that bugger right away if it had been in my house. You are quite a nice "landlord" :)

    ReplyDelete
  48. There are few things I enjoy more than observation of the minutiae of life. Plus, when they find your corpse one morning, looking hale and hearty and with no clear cause of death, they'll now know to look around the room for evilly cackling spider babies.

    ReplyDelete
  49. I was fascinated by your curiosity. The spiderlings do not count on their parent for food.
    That you saw no sign of any silk just means that this one is a variety that doesn't need it. Might be the jumping type. Pounced on the fly as it sat on the table and was injected with numbing agent.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are good, I like to know what you think of my posts. I know you'll keep it civil.