 When threatened by a predators the spider drops head-down into this narrowed section, phragmotically plugging it with the shield-like abdomen.Confronted by this, predators like scorpions, centipedes, hunting wasps and even birds, often give up and go away.However, this defense has been breached by certain parasitic wasps that can maneuver their paper-thin abdomens and long, slender egg-laying tubes (ovipositors) down along the grooves on the spider's abdomen, allowing their eggs to be laid on the softer cuticle at the front of the abdomen.