Eight Legged Thievery

John 10:10
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Out of more than 30,000 species of spiders, there are three species that make their living through thievery. Several years ago that number was raised from two with the discovery of a tiny, thieving Diagram of the internal anatomy of a female two-lunged spider. species on the island of Taiwan. The other two species live in South America and are known to steal only silk from the webs of other spiders. This strange little spider from Taiwan steals much more than just silk and is described as looking like a tiny drop of mercury with legs attached. It preys on the webs of giant wood spiders, whose webs can be more than three feet across. Many spiders eat their own webs for the purpose of recycling the silk to repair a tattered web. But this newly discovered little thief eats the webs of the giant wood spider. Researchers say that these little spiders can, on the average, make a wood spider’s web 21 percent smaller. They have also been seen stealing small insects from the wood spiders’ web as well as wood spider eggs. They are able to do this because they are small and rather sneaky. They do spin their own webs when they are ready to lay eggs, and they also spin their own silk to cover their eggs.

While it is wrong for us to steal, theft is apparently the way God has chosen to feed these spiders in a fallen world. That our world is corrupted by our own sin should remind us that God is our ultimate provider. He has even prepared forgiveness and eternal life for us through the holy life and innocent suffering and death of His own Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Dear Father, help me to keep Your commandments because You have given me salvation in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Author: Paul A. Bartz

Ref:S. Milius, New spider: Unusual suspect steals web, Science News, v.154, p.53. More than 30,000 species, “Spiders” Grolier, 1995, Multimedia Encyclopedia. Image: Diagram of the internal anatomy of a female two-lunged spider. Courtesy of John Henry Comstock. (CC BY 3.0)