You might think of spiders as being creepy eight-legged insects crawling in the dark corners of your house, but most spiders really aren’t all that scary. Some spiders can be venomous or poisonous, and some spiders function in large colonies. But many spiders aren’t harmful, and can actually help control other bug populations.
Spider
While you may jump on top of the coffee table to avoid a spider passing through on its way back to its web, these interesting facts about spiders may help (or hurt) your current spider fears. Keep reading to learn fun spider facts and the cool things they do to survive and thrive.
1. What’s an Arachnid
Spiders actually do not belong to the Insecta class, as many might assume. They are arachnids, and not insects, which means they have a two-part body and eight legs. Insects are known for having a three-part body and closer to six legs. Spiders can also have up to eight eyes, but not all of them do. Some spiders have six eyes, and some only have two. Regardless of the spider, they always have an even number of eyes.
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2. Facts About Silk
Spiders have an area on their abdomen with spinnerets that produce the silk they use for making webs. Some spiders can actually produce multiple kinds of silk. For example, the type of silk a spider might release could be more stretchy or more sticky. Regardless of the texture or flexibility of the silk, it might surprise you to know that the material comes out as a liquid, and it only stiffens when it comes in contact with the outside air.
3. Venomous Spiders
Venomous spiders and poisonous spiders each have different qualities. Spiders that bite you and can inject venom into your blood are, obviously, the venomous ones. Poisonous spiders will typically harm you only if you eat them.
It’s important to keep an eye out for signs of venomous spiders, like the indicators of a black widow spider bite. Learning how to identify different spider species can help keep you safe, especially in the outdoors.
4. Spiders Are Nearsighted
Spiders being nearsighted isn’t necessarily a limitation, it’s simply part of their function. Whether they have six or eight eyes, some of those eyes will focus on creating images, while the others only process variations in light.
And while they can’t see into the distance, they can feel vibrations through their web that alerts them to a successfully trapped bug. Spiders may also include into their webs what could only be called a tripwire, which helps to warn them of approaching predators.
5. Special Spider Sight
One of the other interesting facts about spiders is that some species have special sight abilities. Certain kinds of jumping spiders can see spectrums of light that humans aren’t able to process.
6. Facts About Female Spiders
There are some types of spiders where the females could most definitely be considered matriarchs. The females tend to be larger and more sedentary as they wait for a male spider to find them in order to reproduce.
The male spider will have to impress the female. To begin to communicate, he will approach the female’s web and send vibrations through it to her. And so the courtship dance begins.
7. Spiders Can Be Cannibals
Some female spiders will choose to eat male spiders after the eggs she’s carrying have been inseminated. After all, she needs the extra nutrients to stay alive and care for up to 3000 eggs. However, some male spiders want to be eaten so much so that they will push themselves into the female’s mouth until she eats him.
8. Jumping Spiders
Jumping spiders might seem like some of the freakiest spiders out there. Some spiders can jump so far that they cover a distance of up to 50 times their own length. Now, spiders may not seem that long, but 50 times a couple of inches feels like a pretty far distance.
9. Daddy-Longlegs
There are a few different species that might be referred to as daddy-long-legs. Harvestmen are one type of insect that’s often called a daddy-longlegs but isn’t a spider at all. Only one type of daddy-long-leg is actually a spider, and that species is called a cellar spider.
10. Hair Flinging Spiders
Hair flinging might sound like a ridiculous way to defend yourself from predators, but it’s not. Similar to porcupines releasing quills, some tarantulas will toss hairs when they’re in danger. These urticating hairs, as they’re called, have tiny barbs that can dig in and cause irritation for a potential predator.
11. Are Spiders Solitary Creatures
Spiders are widely known to be individual creatures who only gather briefly to mate. However, there are some spiders that live in colonies of thousands. These large collections of spiders build a massive web and share all the insect sustenance that is caught. Like an army of ants, they work together to succeed as a collective group.
Interesting Facts About Spiders
Despite whatever fear you might hold, hopefully, these interesting facts about spiders helped to show you how intricate and fascinating they can be. They’re not out to hunt you, a large and daunting human. They’d rather catch whatever flies unknowingly into their web. If you’re looking for more fun facts to fill your time and teach you some new things, head over to our page to find something that catches your eye.