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Photo#79549
serious little predator (spider) - Oecobius

serious little predator (spider) - Oecobius
Houston, harris County, Texas, USA
September 24, 2006
Size: 1/8 inch or less
This small spider was on a window sill. Picture is of the spider taking on a fire ant. This is the imported variety of ant that is VERY tiny (not the big west texas variety). The ant was walking across the sill when the little spider came out and ran circles around the ant and effectively "trussing" him up. There seems to be a lot of these little spider in the same area. They make small dime sized web covers. I dropped a dozen ants on the sill and had 5-6 of these little spider out catching ants almost instantly. They are surprisingly fast little spider and run circles of web around their prey to catch them. I assume they have "feeler" webs running out from their little covers to notify them of incoming dinner. I see their tiny web houses all around the windows and inside the house too. They are by far the most populous of the spiders in the area. Just curious what they really are. "pebbles" in the picture are actually sand grains in a mortar joint between two bricks. They really are quite small. Arlon

Great
image! Updated.

 
Thank for the update. Just go
Thank for the update. Just googled Oecobius and found some more info. Thanks again. It adds a new dimension to actually have a clue what I took a picture of!

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