Observation of a Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Leptopogon

amaurocephalus (Passeriformes: Rhynchocyclidae),

trapped in the orb-web of Eriophora fuliginea
(Araneae: Araneidae) in southeastern Brazil
Baptista, R.L.C. 1, Schinelli, H.B.P.1,2,
Assunção-Oliveira, G.1 & Silva, A.S. 3

Received: 28/4/2019. Approved: 18/2/2020.

Abstract. We report the case of a specimen of Lepto-

pogon amaurocephalus Tschudi, 1846 found trapped
on the web of an orb-weaving spider Eriophora fuligi-
nea (C. L. Koch, 1838) on a trail in an Atlantic Forest
reserve in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The literature recor-
ds of spiders capturing and preying on birds is briefly
discussed, emphasizing cases where direct evidence of
predation were observed. Considering the cases in the
literature, and although in our report the predation it-
self was not observed, it is possible that it did happen,
since the bird was too strongly entangled in the web
to free itself, and it was almost without energy to fi-
ght. The bird would probably have been attacked if it
stayed tangled until the night, when the spider is most
active.

Resumo. Relatamos o caso de um espécime de Lepto-

pogon amaurocephalus Tschudi, 1846 encontrado pre-
so em uma teia orbicular de um espécime de Eriophora
fuliginea (C. L. Koch, 1838), em uma trilha em uma
reserva de Mata Atlântica no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Os
registros na literatura de aranhas capturando e predan-
do pássaros são brevemente discutidos, enfatizando os
casos em que evidências diretas de predação foram ob-
servadas. Considerando os casos na literatura, embora
em nosso relato a predação em si não tenha sido obser-
vada, é possível que ocorreria, visto que o pássaro já
estava muito emaranhado na teia para se libertar e já
estava praticamente sem energia para lutar. O pássaro
provavelmente seria atacado se continuasse preso até a
noite, quando a aranha está mais ativa.
Figure 1. Sepia-capped Flycatcher trapped in
Predation of birds by arthropods has historically not Eriophora fuliginea’s web. Photo: Clara Guimarães.
been granted much attention, often being omitted or consi- Spider webs can trap small birds in a way similar to mist
dered to have a low reliability (Teixeira et al. 1991). Howe- nets (Graham 1997). Also, the lower shelves of mist nets
ver, over the past decades, the number of publications repor- may be used by wandering spiders to opportunistically catch
ting cases of arthropod predation of vertebrates in general, birds that are trapped (Carvalho et al 2019).
including birds, have increased substantially (e.g. Nyffeler Bird predation by spiders, especially by Tarantulas (infra-
& Knörschild 2013, Nyffeler et al. 2017). Many cases of order Mygalomorphae) has been reported at least since the
predation or death of birds by arthropods are carried out by 18th century. It has been used to name spiders, like Goliath
spiders, either by active hunting or by capture in their webs. Bird-eater, the common name for Theraphosa blondi (La-

4 Atualidades Ornitológicas, 213, janeiro e fevereiro de 2020

 Figure 2. Spider Eriophora fuliginea in its refuge on the upper corner of the web. Photo: Clara Guimarães.
treille, 1804), or even the genus Avicularia Lamarck, 1818,
named in reference to a famous painting by Maria Sybilla
Merian where this spider is pictured eating a hummingbird
(Fukushima & Bertani 2017). Despite the existence of se-
veral papers reporting bird predation by Tarantula spiders
(e.g. Sick, 1997), they are scarcer than one might expect.
On the other hand, reports of birds captured by spider webs
are far more numerous and show that webs are a real danger
to small birds (Teixeira et al. 1991, Duca e Modesto 2007,
Brooks 2012).
While wandering hunters usually only catch prey smal-
ler than their own size, the ability to spin webs, along with
their venom, enables orb-weavers to capture prey that are as
big or bigger than themselves (McCormick & Polis 1992).
Not all cases of capture are followed by predation, and the
number of reports of birds trapped in spider webs is far lar-
ger than the number of reports where the spider effectively
attacks and feeds on birds (Teixeira et al. 1991, Duca & Mo-
desto 2007, Graham 1997, Cox & NeSmith 2007). Teixeira
et al. (1991) reported a specimen of Nephila Leach, 1815
attacking and biting a Sporophila caerulescens (Vieillot
1823) that afterwards was able to free itself and was not
eaten, but died consequence of the venom. Engel (2006)
found a dead Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790)
trapped in the web of Eriophora biapicata (L. Koch, 1871),
with the spider sitting on the bird. Even though he did not
ascertain whether or not the spider was actually feeding on
the bird, it is very likely that this was the case. Peloso &
Atualidades Ornitológicas, 213, janeiro e fevereiro de 2020
Sousa (2007) reported a Nephilingis cruentata (Fabricius,
1775) feeding on a Todirostrum cinereum (Linnaeus, 1766).
Machi & Sankaran (2009) saw two birds trapped in spider
webs, and they watched the predation of Collocalia escu-
lenta (Linnaeus, 1758) by a non-identified spider, probably
a Nephila. According to the authors, the spider took three
days to eat the whole bird.
We report below one case of a bird trapped by an orb-
-weaver. Leptopogon amaurocephalus Tschudi, 1846 is
a resident tyrant flycatcher that lives at medium height in
lowland tropical forests, from moist evergreen forest and
gallery forest to deciduous woodland. It feeds mainly on ar-
thropods but also eats small fruits and berries. On average,
it is around 13 cm long and weighs around 12 grams. The
species occurs from Mexico to Southeast and South Brazil,
even reaching some areas north and northeast Argentina
(Sick 1997, Fitzpatrick & Langham 2004).
Eriophora fuliginea (C. L. Koch, 1838) is a large orb-
-weaving spider, with female body size varying from 14–30
mm long, and with records from Honduras to Brazil (Levi
1971, World Spider Catalog 2019). The body is dark to light
brown, with the abdomen usually bearing a median, white
longitudinal stripe over the darker dorsum; the venter has a
large, black triangular mark with its apex oriented posterior-
ly between the epigynum and spinnerets, and a white pig-
ment spot on each side anterior to the spinnerets (Levi 1971,
figs 25-34). The orange to yellow setae covering the venter
of abdomen, sternum, and basal articles of legs of mature
5
 and large immature individuals strongly contrast with the
brown background (Muscat et al. 2014, figs 1, 2). Its large
orb-web is commonly seen at night among bushes or near
tree trunks at the borders of forests or forest trails. The spi-
ders usually leave at least part of the web in place during
daylight, probably due to the time-consuming task of buil-
ding a web anew. The webs usually are anchored at or near
the ground, covering an area from just above the herbaceous
layer up to one meter or a little more near the branches of
bushes and small trees, where the spider builds a refuge by
attaching leaves together using silk threads. Both the form
and position of the web suggest that it is a trap for the larger
insects flying through the understory (Robinson et al. 1971,
R. Baptista pers. obs.)
Here, we report an observation made in Reserva Ecoló-
gica de Guapiaçu (REGUA), Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio
de Janeiro state in southeastern Brazil (22°27′10.309”S,
42°46′13.011”W) on 16 December 2017, during the mor-
ning. REGUA is an Atlantic Forest reserve that has some
old preserved forest areas as well as some more recent
reforested areas. On a trail in the reserve called São José
(22°26’15.60”S, 42°46’26.20”W; 71 m), we saw the web of
an Eriophora fuliginea in which a specimen of Leptopogon
amaurocephalus was found trapped in the threads of its lo-
wer half, at around 0.4 m from the ground (Fig. 1). The web
was partially destroyed, probably due to the bird’s impact
and efforts to scape, but part of the structure was still pre-
sent, mostly on the upper half. The spider was hidden inside
a refuge of leaves at the superior corner of the web (Fig.
2), as is usual for a nocturnal spider during daylight. The
bird was strongly trapped in the threads and was shaking,
but it was unlikely that it could get itself loose, because
there were silk strands holding the base of the right wing
and both legs and it was almost without energy to fight.
Being nocturnal, the spider probably had not yet tried to
attack the bird, for it had no bite mark and was not wrapped
in silk. The bird had probably been caught on the same day,
and did not seem to have spent the night in the web. Both
specimens were collected as vouchers. The bird (length 12.2
cm; wingspan 20.2 cm; weight 12 g) is deposited in the Bird
collection of the Laboratório de Ornitologia, Departamento
de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do
Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ/RBO 1035), and the spider (length:
24mm) in the Laboratório de Diversidade de Aracnídeos,
Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universi-
dade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ 1545).
This is the first report of E. fuliginea catching a bird. Al-
though the predation itself was not observed, we suggest
that the spider would possibly have eaten the bird if it had
stayed in the web until the night, when the spider is more
active and would likely attack. The possibility of the bird
freeing itself from the web was very low, since this spider’s
silk strands are very tough, and they were holding the bird’s
limbs. There are reported cases of E. fuliginea preying on
small vertebrates, like anurans (Muscat et al. 2017, Kirch-
meyer et al. 2017) and bats (Robinson et al. 1971, Nyffeler
& Knörnschild 2013), and one report of another Eriopho-
ra species preying upon a bird (Engel 2006). Although the
available data suggest that E. fuliginea might prey on birds
occasionally, it seems unlikely that they are an important
6 Atualidades Ornitológicas, 213, janeiro e fevereiro de 2020
part of its diet. Further studies on the feeding habits of E.
fuliginea are necessary to determine the importance of birds
and other vertebrates in its diet.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Nicholas and Raquel Lo-
cke and Jorge Bizarro, for all the assistance in our projects
in REGUA; Luiz Pedreira Gonzaga for comments on the
manuscript and taxonomic information on the bird; Clara
Guimarães for taking the photos; and André W. Prado for
comments on the manuscript.
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1
Laboratório de Diversidade de Aracnídeos,
Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia,
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
2
E-mail: hectorschinelli@gmail.com
3
Laboratório de Ornitologia, Departamento
de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia,
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.