[Taxacom] The spider and the slug

[Ken Kinman]

Robin and Jan,
     The spider appears to be on the dorsal side of the slug, so if 
predation was occurring, I would guess it was the spider that was biting or 
eating the slug.  I suspect that the "missing" pedipalp was actually cut off 
so that it could be more easily mounted and photographed.

    What I wonder about is the phrase "firmly attached".  If the spider was 
biting the slug, perhaps it got stuck in the slug's slime?  Or was it 
hanging on tightly with its leg claws until its poison took effect?
   -------Ken
*********************************
>From: "Robin Leech" <releech at telusplanet.net>
>To: "Jan Bosselaers" <dochterland at pandora.be>,"TAXACOM List" 
><taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
>Subject: Re: [Taxacom] The spider and the slug
>Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2007 17:49:58 -0600
>
>Hi Jan,
>Was the spider being eaten by the slug?  One of its pedipalps is missing,
>and looks to have been torn off.
>If you still have the spider, preserved, there are a number of people who
>might be able to help you ID it.
>A good way to catch and "fix" molluscs is with novacaine - yes the stuff
>dentists use in your gums.  You need only about 0.2 millilitres per 100
>millitres of water.  Drop the slug in.  It will go numb very quickly, then
>relax.  Once it is relaxed, you can drop it into preservative, and it will
>not
>contract into a small ball.
>Robin
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Jan Bosselaers" <dochterland at pandora.be>
>To: "TAXACOM List" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
>Sent: Monday, August 20, 2007 4:45 PM
>Subject: [Taxacom] The spider and the slug
>
>
> > Dear Taxacomers,
> >
> > Two weeks ago, I found these two animals closely associated, at Lake
> > Baringo in Kenya: http://www.dochterland.org/slug&spider.htm
> > Does anyone know whether this is a chance meeting or not? Does anyone
> > know the species?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Jan
> >
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Dr. Jan Bosselaers
> > "Dochterland", R. novarumlaan 2
> > B-2340 Beerse, Belgium               tel / fax 32-14-615896
> > home: dochterland at pandora.be  /  hortipes at dochterland.org
> > work: jbossela at janbe.jnj.com
> > web: http://www.dochterland.org/ or 
>http://wyith.ch/home/dochterland.org/
> >

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