spiders and lights

[Melf]

yes another spider thread

ive been thinking about this for some time:-

why spiders build webs around or near outdoor electric lights sources

have they (spiders) learned to associate lights with food?

and when did this behaviour begin?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing that perhaps spiders are intelligent enough to notice that most insects are attracted to light sources, or in a spider's pov, "loads of insects over there, I think I take a visit".

Not that I like the idea of a spider that thinks.

 

[Anonymous]

There is also the chance that you just tend to notice the spider webs near lights because they are better lit than the ones in the shadows. Although I agree that spiders are smart enough to set up where the food is plus it gives them a warm place to live and hatch their eggs.

 

[marion]

This is a bit like the 'why do flies fly round a light even if its not on' question. Maybe its just cause it gives the spiders something to make a web on, as if it were a lumpy bit of rock in a cave or something?

 

[Yithian]

This is a bit like the 'why do flies fly round a light even if its not on' question. Maybe its just cause it gives the spiders something to make a web on, as if it were a lumpy bit of rock in a cave or something?

There are two types of swarming fly - those that swarm 'over' objects (cows, rocks, bushes etc.) and those that swarm 'under' them (beneath branches, under light shades etc.) If you get a ball of paper and throw it slightly to the side of a lightshade with circling flies, some of the flies willl leave the shade and fly beneath the paper ball.