Spider Facts
Spider Facts
2. They have a hard body and eight legs. All spiders have the same body parts. The main part of their body is divided into two sections. In the front, there are eight legs and two pinchers. Special parts in the back, called spinnerets, make silk. Spiders use the silk to make webs.
3. Spiders live in many places. They live in deserts, caves, on top of mountains, and anywhere else you might search.
4. Spiders usually eat insects. Sometimes they may eat small frogs or lizards. They trap the prey in their web. Then they poison it with a venomous bite. Spiders turn their food into a liquid. Then they drink the liquid. Male spiders are usually smaller than females.
5. Spiders have fangs. But did you know that they have pale blue blood?
6. The biggest spider is the Tarantula.
8. Some spider’s silk is so strong that they use it for traveling. With one end attached to a surface like a tree branch, the spider will hang onto the end and let the wind carry it away (similar to Spider Man)! This is called ‘balooning’ and can take the spider many kilometers.
9. Spiders have 4 pairs of legs. So do scorpions, mites, and the other members of the arachnid family. This makes arachnids different from insects, which have 6 legs.
11. These are on the front of their head. In spite, of this, many of them can’t see very well. They feel their way around with their legs. A spider sheds its skin about ten times as it grows.
12. Spiders sometimes lose a leg when they shed their skin.
13. A spider sheds its skin about ten times as it grows.
14. People have been known to use spiders’ webs as fishing nets.
15. Spiders make a new web every day. Spiders are always making new webs because their old ones break easily and lose their stickiness. A web traps food for the spider so it is essential for survival and needs to be in perfect order. The silk in a spiders’ web could stretch the length of a tennis court.
16. Spider silk is stronger than steel wire of the same thickness.
17. Some spiders live underwater.
18. Water spiders live in lakes and ponds, but they can’t breathe underwater. They spin themselves a bell-shaped web and keep it filled with air by collecting bubbles from the surface.
19. Some spiders lie in wait in their webs, hoping to catch tadpoles.
20. Trapdoor spiders dig out their tunnels with their jaws.
21. Some spiders jump through trapdoors.
22. Trapdoor spiders dig a burrow in the ground, cover it with a trapdoor, and hide inside. Then they pounce on any creature that passes.
23. The bolas spider is named after the bolas, a South American lasso.
24. Unlike many spiders, hunting spiders have very sharp eyesight.
25. Some spiders spit.
26. Spitting spiders don’t use webs. Instead, they make a sticky gum, which they fire out through their fangs. This completely covers an insect and sticks it to the spot.
27. Wolf spiders eat up to 15 insects on a good hunting day.
28. Most spiders are poisonous- at least to insects.
29. Some spiders have fangs.
30. Like snakes, spiders use poison to defend themselves and kill their prey. A spider jabs its fangs into its victim and holds on while the poison pumps into the prey.
31. A spider bite always leaves two little holes in the skin. House spiders often stick their nests to door and window frames.
32. Spiders have nurseries.
33. Just before her eggs hatch, the nursery-web spider spins a tent of silk. It’s a nursery, where tiny baby spiders stay safe and sound, while their mother keeps guard nearby. After they have hatched, baby spiders still need a parents’ protection.
34. Some spiders can change color.
35. Crab spiders are masters of disguise and can match their color to their surroundings. This clever trick keeps them hidden inside flowers, where other spiders would be more easily seen . Spiders that hunt on the ground need good camouflage.
36. Chinese farmers build winter shelters for spiders in their fields.
37. Wasps attack spiders.
38. The female tarantula hawk wasp feeds her babies tarantulas. She attacks, stings, and paralyzes these huge spiders, then drags them into a hole and lays an egg on them.
39. A golden-wheeling spider escapes by cartwheeling down sand dunes.
40. So far, scientists have identified 30,000 different types of spiders
41. Many insects can fly, but arachnids can’t.
42. The Red-back Spider is a carnivore and eats almostany insect that gets trapped in its web. It is also known to eat young mice and lizards. Young Red-back Spiders eat each other after hatching, until they find another food source.
43. Only the female Red-back Spider is capable of hurting humans.
44. In a cannibalistic mating ritual, the male performs a somersault and lands on top of the female so his abdomen ends in her face. The female usually begins to eat the male while he finishes fertilising her eggs. Most males do not survive the mating process.
45. All spiders except one family, the Feather legged spiders (Uloboridae) have a pair of venom glands that secrete venom. Worldwide there are about 34,000 species of spider with only 20 to 30 species being dangerously venomous to humans.
46. Note that spiders are venomous, not poisonous. Poison must be ingested in order to have any effect. Venom needs to be injected into tissue. Theoretically, venom can be drunk without any ill effects, unless of course you have mouth or stomach cuts, sores or ulcers.
47. Female Black Widow spiders have a red hourglass shape on their backs. Males have white spots on their sides. Males only live about a year, but the female can live up to 3 years.
48. These spiders produce a neurotoxin which paralyzes their prey. Their venom is not very toxic to humans, but can cause swelling, severe pain and sweating.
49. Tarantulas have an exoskeleton, and therefore must molt to grow larger. Immediately after molting the spider is at greatest risk of predation, since it takes several days for their exoskeleton to fully harden.
50. Orb weavers are so named because they construct a web made up of concentric circles of silk anchored to the surrounding vegetation. Most people are familiar with this “Charlotte’s Web” pattern. Orb weavers are most famous for their web engineering.
51. Crab spiders do not spin webs, snares or nests. They spin egg sacs.
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