Survival of the fittest

[Prajwal J Ullal]

ID: Crab spider with orb weaver catch

While we entered the trail, we spotted this particular plant with the crab spider at one end and an orb weaver, suspended on its web, on the other end of the plant. It seemed as if the two were sharing the same plant to catch some morning prey. Though, to our surprise, while we returned from the trail we spotted that the crab spider had moved further closer to the orb weaver's location and was happily feasting on it. After spotting this though am confused if the crab had already spotted the orb weaver and was waiting to feast on it, or it caught it because it couldnt find any prey, after a long wait.
Probably a mystery that cant be solved

EXIF:
Canon 80D
Canon 100m macro
F/13
Shutterspeed 1/100
ISO 320
Handheld, External flash fired

Location: Nagla trail

[Mrudul Godbole]

Good that you checked on them when you returned back. That gave you chance to observe their behavior. As you have said, I think the crab spider would have attacked it finally after not getting any other prey. Good details. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

This looks cool. Fine natural history moment on display. This shows why we should always keep an eye on the bush as these life and death battles between predators is intriguing. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi