Spiders don't eat their webs, do they?

That guy was right.

It depends on the spider. Some spiders like the orb weavers make their webs daily so in order to converse energy and resources (protein), they consume their own silk.

I have even watched a spider do this after it scaled to the ceiling. if you've ever seen a spider climb a line up and drag the silk line back up to itself, where do you suppose it's putting the silk? The silk doesn't 'retract' back into the body, if you watch, the spider consumes the silk as it reels it in.

Read about how orb weavers eat their webs to conserve protein here:

http://www.enature.com/expert/expert_show_question...

Read a different article as confirmation here:

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2001-11/10068...

Read about the spider sucking fluids myth here:

http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/m...

Read about spider's mouthparts here (contrary to popular belief, spiders to possess mouths and do not suck fluids through thier fangs. Fangs are for injecting venom ONLY.):

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/spider...

Edit: Reading backwards, I looked at one of the link that said that spiders only ingest liquid foods and was reasonably shocked that a scientist would say that because he is simply wrong. Added some articles that refute the 'spiders only suck fluid out of their prey'.

Some spiders eat their webs, some don't. The

silk is a protein and the web-eating spiders recycle

it. The business about eating solid or liquid food

needs a little clarification. The spider can ingest

(i.e. swallow) only liquid or semi-liquid food because its digestive tract is very small in diameter

in the anterior part. It predigests its prey by

injecting digestive juices into or onto it. Small

spiders with weak mouthparts inject the digestive

juices into the holes made by the fangs, then suck

out the digested fluids. When they are through with the prey item it may consist of just a hollowed

out exoskeleton showing no apparent damage

except the fang holes where it was bitten. The

digestive fluids come from the mouth, not through

the fangs, the fangs only inject venom. In large

spiders with strong mouthparts the prey is chewed

(actually more torn) by the fangs and the remnants

of the prey may be just a ball of fragments. The

solid tissues have been digested and the liquid

digested material swallowed. A big spider like a

tarantula, fishing spider or giant crab spider can

reduce a lizard, bird, fish, snake or young mammal

to a damp ball about the size of a large pea.

Going back to web eating, it appears that some

spiders get extra food by eating the web to which

may be clinging tiny insects that the spider ignored

before because of their size, and some of them

apparently even derive some nourishment from

plant pollen that may be adhering to the web.

Actually,if the spider feels that the location of the web will be in danger from birds and other predators,it will eat it's own web,recycle it and spin another in a new location.

Spiders do not eat their webs. They make their webs so that they can capture food. They are preying on the insects that fly into and get stuck in their webs.

YES spiders do eat their webs!! it is a way to replace the minerals used to make the first web!! they re-cycle!

If she needs to rebuild a web, she will eat the broken strands and digest them. This helps her make more new silk. Nothing is wasted.

I wish! I'd like them better if they'd tidy up and not leave all those spider webs for me to clean out of...everywhere!

Try this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiders#Digestion

No, because they can only ingest liquid food.

Some do, yes.

No they dont