Digestive System
The black widow spider gets its food by trapping other insects in their extremely strong web. Such insects range from different types of flies, to crickets and grass hoppers. The black widow is one of the few organisms that digest their food outside of their mouth (preorally). When the spider initially finds their prey stuck in their web, they release digestive enzymes on the prey from its intestinal tract. Once enzymes have broken down the victim, the spider sucks the liquified organism into their mouth. Once through the mouth, the food passes through the pharynx and into the stomach. The stomach is part of the midgut. The midgut is generally made up of four parts. Once the food is at the end of the stomach, it enters the cecum (intestine). After nutrients is absorbed through the intestines, the digested food passes through rectum and becomes expelled out of the anus.