Beauty Is In the Eight Eyes of the Beholder
As I sit at the kitchen table and gaze through the water spotted window at the bright red humming bird feeder that hangs from the eaves just outside, I am delighted by the natural beauty of these dainty little masters of aerial aerobics. I would think that I am unlikely to find many who would disagree that they are most certainly beautiful creatures. This is decidedly not the case for all of the creatures that are objects of my fascination. In the corner of that rectangular recess that constitutes the frame of the kitchen window is a wispy, dust colored, loose woven natural fabric. What my wife sees is a small but persistent opposition force countering her efforts to maintain order and cleanliness. What I see is a marvel of natural architecture occupied by a creature as ingeniously engineered as is its own handiwork that serves as both residence and lethal hunter’s snare.
The common house spider that is navigating the web with the grace and precision of a circus acrobat, as awkward and ungainly as any creature that can be imagined, perfectly coordinates the movement of eight spindly legs with the microscopic tip of each leg landing precisely on the filaments of the web, each of which is a fraction of the diameter of a human hair. This it does with a speed and adeptness that is absolutely mind boggling in light of the challenge that human race has navigating the hazards of our world with only two legs to coordinate and to avert from missteps. A fly has become entrapped the sticky mesh and the spider, sensing it struggle for its life, is now sprinting towards its quarry. The feats of all of the greatest of aerialists and tight-rope walkers that have ever lived are put to shame on a daily basis by the casual activities of these gangly eight legged creatures.
Once the spider has arrived at its struggling victim it quickly secures itself with six legs and uses the remaining two legs to grasp the prey as surely as if it were possessed of fully articulated hands. It pulls the prey within range of twin fangs, curved hypodermic needles that inject a venom that serves as both lethal poison and as a digestive cocktail that reduces the inner workings of the fly to a nutritive slurry that can be ingested through a straw like mouth. As the venom takes effect the spider begins to flip and spin the fly with the skill of a juggler all the while spinning a fine silken thread of biochemical textile which gradually envelopes the fly and holds it securely as the venom saps the remaining life from its victim. The spider returns to its corner to allow the liquefaction of the fly’s internal organs to proceed and to wait for the next hapless victim.
These creatures subject to such loathing and often fear are truly marvels of organic engineering and a vital contributor to life’s continuing balance. I for one am awed and amazed.