We don’t have air conditioning, which means we don’t have the house buttoned down tight in the summer, which means the occasional fly wanders in and heads to the kitchen, always the kitchen. But they don’t last long, because we’ve got a tangle of cobwebs under our cupboards, which are occupied by fierce fly-killers. This is a Pholcus phalangioides caught in the act of ‘explaining’ to a housefly that we don’t care for their kind comin’ round these parts.
I didn’t notice the teeny tiny gnat snared in the web by the spider’s hind leg when I took the picture.
The thread about David Rubin and this thread about hungry arthropod predators…we can solve both problems.
Arguably, the spider does care for their kind comin’ round… for dinner.
I can’t figure out where they’re coming from, but we’ve had an infestation of houseflies for the last couple of days. Not quite like that scene in The Amityville Horror but enough to leave me scratching my head. I killed 10 yesterday and my wife got around 5. Today’s kill count is 11 so far and my wife got a couple more. If this keeps up, I may have to drive up to Morris and borrow some of PZ’s spiders. I hope he’ll honor my Chicago library card.
I have a cat who has put himself in charge of dealing with flies, and spiders. He regularly inspects the corners and any webs for spider snacks.
@1 Ah glob no, you’ll poison the spider.
8-O
They’re creepy and they’re kooky
Mysterious and spooky
They’re all together ooky…
Tethys,
Our Maine Coon is our mighty hunter of flies. This provides entertainment for the humans as well.
Worf performs some daring back flips and skids into sudden turns while chasing flies. He even occasionally
skids into one of the girl cats and hilarity ensues..