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At 04:49 PM 12/5/2008, Peter Payzant wrote:
>Here's a question that has bubbled up in my mind from time to time:
My mind is full of bubbles, too, Peter. (and a great subject to come
in at the dinner hour...)
>Everyone knows that spiders use their chelicerae (fangs) to capture
>their prey, and to inject a venom that immobilizes the prey.
>However, how do they feed? Do they feed through the chelicerae, or
>do they have a separate mouth opening? If the latter, how do they
>break through the tough shell of their prey in order to feed?
>Inquiring minds want to know.
The venom includes acids that "dissolve" the corpus of the prey and
the spider sucks it up as a liquid slurry (which explains the dried
"skins" (exoskeletons) of their prey you can often find beneath their
webs). A good book on the subject (if you can find it -- I believe it
may be out of print) is Foelix's "Biology of Spiders."
Phil
--
Dr. Phil Schappert
27 Clovis Ave.
Halifax, NS Canada, B3P 1J3
Home: 902-404-5679
Cell: 902-460-8343
www.philschappert.com
www.aworldforbutterflies.com
"Just let imagination lead, reality will follow through..."
Michael Hedges
--Boundary_(ID_rGYRzcWHRG5lvYZ9uM2D9w)
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At 04:49 PM 12/5/2008, <font size=2>Peter Payzant</font> wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font size=2>Here's a question
that has bubbled up in my mind from time to time:
</font></blockquote><br>
My mind is full of bubbles, too, Peter. (and a great subject to come in
at the dinner hour...)<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font size=2>Everyone knows that
spiders use their chelicerae (fangs) to capture their prey, and to inject
a venom that immobilizes the prey. However, how do they feed? Do they
feed through the chelicerae, or do they have a separate mouth opening? If
the latter, how do they break through the tough shell of their prey in
order to feed?<br>
Inquiring minds want to know.</font></blockquote><br>
The venom includes acids that "dissolve" the corpus of the prey
and the spider sucks it up as a liquid slurry (which explains the dried
"skins" (exoskeletons) of their prey you can often find beneath
their webs). A good book on the subject (if you can find it -- I believe
it may be out of print) is Foelix's "Biology of
Spiders."<br><br>
Phil<br>
</body>
<br>
<body>
<font face="Courier, Courier">--<br><br>
Dr. Phil Schappert<br><br>
27 Clovis Ave.<br>
Halifax, NS Canada, B3P 1J3<br>
Home: 902-404-5679<br>
Cell: 902-460-8343<br><br>
<a href="http://www.philschappert.com/" eudora="autourl">
www.philschappert.com<br>
</a><a href="http://www.aworldforbutterflies.com/" eudora="autourl">
www.aworldforbutterflies.com<br><br>
</a>"Just let imagination lead, reality will follow
through..."<br>
Michael Hedges</font> </body>
</html>
--Boundary_(ID_rGYRzcWHRG5lvYZ9uM2D9w)--
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