“Come Into My Parlor” Said The Spider To The Fly

In the picture above, an Argiope sp. spider is biting a housefly that blundered into its snare. Argiope belongs to Araneidae, the family of orb-weaving spiders. The members of the genus Argiope are large spiders that build large, circular webs in vegetation where flying insects can become caught in their traps. The members of this genus are generally found in the center of their web and are active in the daytime. Because of this, lots of people have become aquainted with these spiders.

In the picture below, the Argiope finishes wrapping its prey for storage. The venom injected earlier not only kills the insect but also digests its insides into a liquid the spider will consume. After wrapping its prey, the spider hangs it near the center of the web and returns to its spot nearby where it will wait for more insects to drop by for dinner.