My family recently sent me this series of pictures and movie, which caught on film the amazing ability of spiders to catch their prey. The first picture shows a katydid ignorantly wandering along the window frame to its eventual doom. The second picture shows how when the katydid tried to take off and fly away, it was ensnared in the massive spider web built in the corner of the window. The video shows the spider's reaction to its prey. It begins by jumping on top of it. I am fairly certain that it then employs the bite first method, most likely because the katydid is so large and would probably get away if the spider tried to wrap it first. I think that the spider bit the prey (although you can't see it clearly in the video) because the katydid is slowly subdued and stops struggling. This huge katydid should keep the spider happy and full for a long time... quite the feast.
Shout out to my brother for catching this on film for me!
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