Aug 13, 2011: Since the start of August, as usual, we`ve been terrorized by wasps. Simultaniously, I`ve been trying to guess: what happens if a wasp gets into a spider`s cobweb? Is spider`s web sturdy enough to hold such a strong insect or will the wasp break it? Who will turn out to be a better biter? Sure, I could plot such meeting artificially by means of some dexterity and pincers, but I didn` want to put the Spider-friend`s life at risk.

The day before yesterday the Universe answered my question. Soon after lunch I found Spider-friend busy swaddling a black-and-yellow beast in his threads. The wasp was still quivering, but there was no hope for it. Spider-friend was happy to get such a big prey. Usually, on catching a normal fly, he eats it sitting on the cobweb. But with wasp it was all different. While the wasp was living the last minute of its aggressive live in the sticky cocoon, Spider-friend ran into his house (it`s my worn-out small bag, hanging under the roof). There, he sat and cleared up his fore-legs and palpi, as if he was foretasting the great meal. Then he fetched the prey into the house and started eating. He was gnawing it until after midnight. By the morning he finished with the wasp and rested somewhere in a shelter. Until evening I was worrying if my (now even more valuable and beloved) Spider-friend could get poisoned by wasp`s venom. But it was ok, in the evening he came out to the web, good and healthy. And today he catched another wasp. :)

species Common wasp, or yellowjacket Vespula vulgaris
species European garden spider, or cross spider Araneus diadematus
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