(August 28, 2016 at 4:07 pm)Stimbo Wrote:(August 28, 2016 at 3:27 pm)Yoo Wrote: This is a reply to you and to Aoi Magi.
I don't really get how weakly poisoning a large predator gets you anywhere. As a small scorpion or spider, you're probably eaten before you can even react, and if you're not, you will be before the poison kicks in, right? Remember that the poison was probably not very strong at first.
Right, so the spiders with weaker venom got eaten more often than those with more powerful venom. You don't have to be able to kill your attacker to survive, merely discourage it. Over generations, evolutionary pressure would favour increasing potency of venom; balanced on the other side by increasing resistance to that venom by the spiders' predators and prey.
You didn't really answer my question. I understand the basic principle, "the spiders with weaker venom got eaten more often than those with more powerful venom" but I still see some complications, stated in my question.
Yoo
