A few
spiders live on the webs of other spiders: they are too small to be
eaten by their host. They eat the small prey that get caught in the
web, thus keeping it tidy.
Spiders also have amazing defence mechanisms. Some spiders camouflage
themselves as a bird dropping. Others, as a dried yellow or black
rotting leaf or twig. And yet others resemble ants which are often
rejected by birds, reptiles and other insects. Some are even able to
change colour and shape, to some extent, to match their surroundings.
Some species build zigzag white coloured threads in their webs which
are visible to birds who avoid flying through the webs and damaging
them.
The male spider is smaller than the female, and is thus liable to be
eaten by his mate. So, the male uses many tactics to prevent his being
devoured by his mate. In some cases the male drums or pulls at the
strings of the web in a special code to announce that he is not a prey
or an enemy, but a sexual object.
Some spiders offer their mate a gift such as a juicy fly, wrapped in
silk. But it may well be taken back after mating and offered to another
female. Sometimes a male may even offer the female the empty husk of an
insect. Sometimes the male loosely binds the female with silk to
immobilize her before mating. Some species of male spiders may
patiently wait near the web of a female spider for weeks until she has
caught a prey, and then mate with her while she is busy feeding on the
prey.
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