SUNDEWS - the carnivorous struggle

I was given a small pot of Drosera, also called common sundews, by my sister-in-law a few weeks ago. Sundew plants are carnivorous and so far this plant has trapped a few very tiny insects and made mince meat of them. One interesting fact from Wikipedia: They can achieve a lifespan of 50 years!

At other times, when too many milk ants invaded our kitchen, some of them would be thrown to this plant. But, this afternoon, something else happened.

A small spider, with length of about 2.0 mm from head to end of abdomen, accidentally touched the ever-reaching tentacles of these sundews. Garden spiders have been a good friend of mine as they prey on unwanted insects. Yes, my heart dropped. I spent a while observing how it is going to get itself out of hot soup.

It seems like its leg (1) and leg (2) have been glued into the tentacles. This is the first time that I actually see for myself how strong the sweet, sticky mucilage is. Tried as it did, the spider just could not pull its legs out of the stalked glands.

After a while of struggle, it takes a rest. Then it tries to turn outward and at the same time, pulls its legs. Nope, they are not coming out of the glue of death!

Here is looking at the situation from another angle. The spider has gone in a little bit forward, leading to a more precarious position than before.

Finally, with two legs trapped and the rest of its body outside, it just stopped. I believe it has expended all its energy and in due time it will die of starvation or exhaustion. Depending on what comes next, the sundews might just be able to lift the spider up and bring it deeper in for a fuller hold.

So, what I did was load a pair of tweezers with a small piece of tissue paper and use that to lift the spider up. Then I use another very damp tissue paper to dilute the sticky juice from the legs. Eventually, I put the spider down on a small cactus plant.

Did the spider make it? I think it did as a few minutes after I left it on the cactus plant, it disappeared. I certainly hope it makes it to its home, with all the limbs intact. 

By the way, I don't normally intervene in nature's progress. This one was an exception. Anyway, I was hoping for mosquitoes, fruit flies and the pesky milk ants.

Here is a picture of a fruit fly that met its doom. No way I could have saved this one. Truly a formidable organic "flypaper" trap.