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Photo#316493
Somebody's pulling the golden silk spider's chain - Argyrodes elevatus

Somebody's pulling the golden silk spider's chain - Argyrodes elevatus
Meggett, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
August 6, 2009
The junebug making a dinner for the golden silk spider was so colorful I just had to get an image. While I was shooting my daughter pointed out to me there was a 3rd party in the picture. Argyrodes elevatus (not nephilae, sorry. Thanks Lynette!) is a new one on me, so I tried for a while to try to get a good shot, but they are soooo small, I was having a tough time.

This did however give me time to observe an unexpected behavior. The A. elevatus repeatedly climbed over to the golden silk's spinnerets and yanked on the attached strand until the golden silk moved a little, then it ran about an inch away. About a minute later it would come back an do it again. I watched this cycle at least a half dozen times.

Can anyone offer me any insight as to just what was going on here? It appeared to be just blatant harassment...

Images of this individual: tag all
Somebody's pulling the golden silk spider's chain - Argyrodes elevatus Somebody's pulling the golden silk spider's chain - Argyrodes elevatus Somebody's pulling the golden silk spider's chain - Argyrodes elevatus Somebody's pulling the golden silk spider's chain - Argyrodes elevatus Somebody's pulling the golden silk spider's chain - Argyrodes elevatus

I don't know what's going on,
but here is a suggestion. I understand that in addition to being kleptoparasites in the webs of other spiders, they also eat the other spider's web, which is quite nutritious and full of protein (which is why Aranaeas that spin webs at night, often eat them in the morning.

There is a link to an article referring to this in BugGuide view/ 28277

Moved
Moved from Argyrodes nephilae.

 
Text editted
... to reflect correct identity. Thanks Lynette!

Argyrodes elevatus?
All my references say Argyrodes nephilae is only found in Florida.

 
May well be...
... that they are only supposed to be found there. That specimen was the only one of those I've seen or heard of in our area, before or since. The UPS guy visits those premises very frequently, I wonder if it was an accidental tourist...

 
Might be possible
still, I'd like to be as certain as possible. Can you tell me how the original ID was reached?

 
Original ID
Argh. I composed a long reply to this a couple days ago, and apparently didn't actually post it... Ooops...

As far as the original ID, I don't specifically recall, but I think it can be assumed it went something like this. The only printed reference material I have that mentions Agryrodes of any kind is "Spiders of the Eastern US" by Howell & Jenkins, and it only mentions a. nephilae and the obviously different a. trigona, so it is likely I was thinking a. nephilae from the start. Once I got to comparing what BugGuide had, I decided against a. elevatus because the images seemed to consistently feature bolder and more obvious black markings on the abdomen than mine had, so that's where I put them.

I am far from an expert with identities, as my record here shows, and will not be surprised if I've made an incorrect assumption. Maybe a little surprised that it took so long to be discovered this time... ;-)

 
Thanks
I'm moving this to elavatus then based on known range of nephilae.

I'm afraid we don't have many spider experts here on the guide. Therefore it takes the rest of us a lot of time to sort these things out because we are learning from reading old Harvard University Publications.

This is terrific!
Can't wait to see what the answers are that you get. "Just tweaking the bug guy!" Outstanding behavior story (and images)

 
Thanks J²Bs...
I'm dying to know what was going on there too!

 
I wonder
if that is a way to draw the spider away from its prey giving it an opportunity to feed on the beetle?

 
Logically...
... it seems like that's the only thing it could be. As audaciously ambitious as that would be, I can't help but wonder if that little guy could even get into a junebug. I guess he might rely on the property owner to breach the buffet as well. Then, hide out and pose as a dew drop when the rightful owner returns. What a clever adaptation!

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