Spiders baffle the evolutionary theorist with their specialized hunting styles. The eyes of a jumping spider give it a 360 degree panoramic view. It's keen vision give it perfect accuracy when it leaps toward a moving or stationary prey. Some spiders stalk, some wait and ambush, some create webs and wait. I want to take a closer look at a few of the more fascinating styles of spider hunting.
The American cowboy wasn't the first to make a living off the lasso. The Bola
spider catches its prey by creating a poison sticky mixture and attaching it to a web.
It then throws it's lasso at an insect who flies into the spider's range.
Some Bola spiders produce a pheromone which attracts insects to her dinner party.
Crab spiders are amazing creatures. They come in many colors. They hide
from predators and ambush prey by hiding on a flower of their color. They can
remarkably resemble the color of a flower or plant. They often lay motionless on a
flower waiting for an insect to land. Their long legs give them plenty of range to
grab their prey.
The net-throwing spider is an amazing creation. This spider creates a small web
that it uses as a net to toss on a passing insect. Even more remarkably, many
species have the ability to create pheromones that simulate the mating scent of a moth.
This attracts a male moth into its range so it can net it.
Fisher Spiders are also fascinating. They are able to stand on the water because
their legs and feet are designed to create surface tension. Surface tension prevents
friction so they run by pushing the dimples created by the surface tension. The
dimples create resistance and puts them in motion. They also have a few other
amazing characteristics. They can easily dive below the surface of calm waters.
They create webs below the surface and carry bubbles of air down to create a
breathable climate. Fisher spiders feed on small fish, insects and other pond life.
To catch fish, they thrust a leg below the surface and when a curiosity draws a
small fish, they dive and catch it.
Web spitting spiders (Scytodes thoricica). This spider sneaks very carefully
towards its prey and at about 10 mm distance it stops and carefully measures the distance
to its prey with one front leg without disturbing it. Then it squeezes the back of its
body together and spits two poisonous silk threads, in 1/600 sec, in a zigzag manner over
the victim. The prey is immediately immobilized. When the prey is larger the spider spits
several times.
| The pattern of design echoes from each species of spider. The skill to lasso does not fit the evolutionary model. There is no room for trial and error. If a species could evolve, unless every mechanism was in place, it would have quickly died. The Bola spider had to have fully developed vision, coordination to throw the lasso, perfect depth perception, and the ability to calculate the flight pattern of a moving insect. Not to mention the ability to produce the mixture of glue, poison and a pheromone to create the lasso. Logic drives us to conclude that evolution would have used the first successful mechanism. Of course, evolution also cannot explain the knowledge of the genetic code to make that mechanism. With all the odors in the air, how did the spider know which odor the female moth uses to attract males? How did the spider gain the knowledge to reproduce this odor? How did the Fisher spider know that fish would respond to its lure? Evolution requires more faith than it takes to believe creation. |