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Index of Subjects This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_nmxoUt9O1S+ReZOoSs+/vQ) Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Ulli and Phil- Thanks for the info! So, do they withdraw the chelicerae and then apply the mouth to the tiny holes left in the exoskeleton, or are the secretions from the mouth sufficiently strong to dissolve the exoskeleton and create a weak area (or opening) through which the spider can feed? There's a very small, very hungry spider here who really really wants to know. (just kidding.) Peter uhoeger@dal.ca wrote: > 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 > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3667 (20081205) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > > > > --Boundary_(ID_nmxoUt9O1S+ReZOoSs+/vQ) Content-type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> <font size="-1"><font face="Arial">Ulli and Phil-<br> <br> Thanks for the info! So, do they withdraw the chelicerae and then apply the mouth to the tiny holes left in the exoskeleton, or are the secretions from the mouth sufficiently strong to dissolve the exoskeleton and create a weak area (or opening) through which the spider can feed?<br> <br> There's a very small, very hungry spider here who really really wants to know. (just kidding.)<br> <br> Peter<br> <br> <br> </font></font><br> uhoeger@dal.ca wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:493963F2.30621.1CC125@uhoeger.dal.ca" type="cite"> <pre wrap="">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 __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3667 (20081205) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com </pre> </blockquote> </body> </html> --Boundary_(ID_nmxoUt9O1S+ReZOoSs+/vQ)--
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