next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects Spiders have a separate mouth and use their chelicerae (fangs) to immobilize prey and inject it with venom! Along with the venom they inject some digestive enzymes through the chelicerae into their prey. Like syringe needles the fangs have a closed channel in their centre that is hooked up to the venom gland, not the digestive system. Saliva and digestive fluid is then added from the mouth parts. All this is the described by the term extraintestinal digestion. In some species the exoskeleton of the prey remains almost intact when the liquefied tissue is sucked out by the spider (with the mouth, not through the chelicerae, requires pretty strong stomach muscles to suck a fly's content through a small hole ). However, most spiders use chelicerae and mouth parts to work their prey into pulp and add saliva (with digestive enzymes) to the mass as they successively suck liquefied tissue up. We feed ours here in the lab large cockroaches and all that's left behind is a dense ball of cuticle fragments. Takes them a few hours to digest and ingest the usable tissues. Hope the inquiring mind got fed Ulli
next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects