Spider shedding its skin (Part 1)

Konica Minolta Dynax 7D
Sigma 50-500 f4-6.3 APO EX
Extension tubes
2x teleconverter
off-camera Minolta Program 3600 HS D flash

This is a spider of the Lynyphiidae family. It is probably Linyphia triangularis. In one particular bush in the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden there was a large number of webs of this species, which has an interesting way to catch prey. The web is built in a mostly horizontal plane, with a few threads above it that lead diagonally or vertically to leaves and branches above the web. The spider hangs underneath that horizontal web and waits until an insect flies through the bush, bumps into one of the vertical threads above the web and falls down onto it. Then the spider rushes towards the prey and grabs it right through the web to catch it before it flies away again.

While searching for one that had a nice web and was lit nicely, I suddenly saw this small one (about 4 mm) twitching and pulling. At first I assumed it had a prey, but when I looked closer I saw that it was getting out of its old clothes! You can clearly see the old skin of the legs still hanging on to the web, while the fresh and shiny spider is still trying to get the last bit of its legs out of the tights . I observed it for quite a while and it required quite a bit of pulling to get its feet out. Tomorrow I'll post a shot of this spider hanging out to dry .