Facts About Spiders
The spider may not be your favorite creature to look at, but you have to admit they are fascinating. There is no shortage of wonderful facts about them.
They are the largest order of Arachnids.
They are 7th in the world when it comes to diversity among their populations.
Antarctica is the only continent in the world where you can’t find spiders.
Most spiders don’t live in the bodies of water, only a few species. They are able to live in all other types of habitat.
They don’t have antenna, which is what separates them from insects.
There has only been one species identified as vegetarian the rest are all predators: Bagheera Kipling.
Most spiders feature 4 sets of eyes. The pattern of how they are arranged, though, will depend on the species.
In some species, males are often much smaller than the females in size.
The number of eggs a female delivers can be up to 3,000.
Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders. It is one of the most common fears in the world. It affects approximately ten percentof men and fifty percent of women. The severity of the fear can vary.
The word “spider” comes from the Old English word spithra and is related to the German spinne, both of which mean “spinner.” The word “spinster” is also related and means “one who spins thread.”
While humans have muscles on the outside of their skeleton, spiders have muscles on the inside. A spider’s skeleton, or exoskeleton, covers and protects its muscles.
The largest spider is the Giant Bird Eating Spider and the Huntsman spider is the world’s largest spider by leg-span.
The smallest spider is the Patu digua endemic to Colombia.
Spiders spin webs that they use to catch food. They have glands that make silk. The strongest material in the world is considered the silk that spiders create. Scientists haven’t been able to recreate this design even with all the technology we have today.
Spiders are classified as invertebrates. They don’t have a backbone.
There are believed to be at least 40,000 species of spiders in the world.
Spiders help the environment by eliminating volumes of insects that would otherwise be around in your garden and other locations.
Spiders are vital to a healthy ecosystem. They eat harmful insects, pollinate plants, and recycle dead animal and plants back into the earth. They are also a valuable food source for many small
mammals, birds, and fish. Spiders eat insects by filling them with digestive juices.
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Spiderman is one of the most popular super heroes. This is also one of the few times that movies have portrayed the spider positively other than in Charlotte’s Web.
Very few people die or become seriously ill from spider bites. Yet there is enough media attention surrounding them when it does occur that it creates a frenzy.
An estimated 1 million spiders live in one acre of land. The number might be closer to 3 million in the tropics. It is estimated that a human is never more than 10 feet away from a spider—ever.
Spiders eat more insects than birds and bats combined.
All spiders spin silk, but not all spiders spin webs.
Male spiders weave a small “sperm” web. They then place a drop of semen on the web, suck it up with their pedipalps, and then use the pedipalp to insert the sperm into the female.
Web-weaving spiders have two or three claws at the tip of each leg that they use to swing from strand to strand without getting stuck in the sticky part of their web. Additionally, a spider’s body has a special oily substance that keeps it from getting stuck in its web.
Abandoned spider webs are called “cobwebs.” The word “cob” is an obsolete word meaning “spider” and is a shortened form of the Old English word attercop, which literally means “poison head.” Etymologists see a connection between cob for spider and cob for corn in that a cob of corn means the “head” or “top” of the corn.
In rare instances, some spider bites can cause blood disorders. For example, the brown recluse venom may cause red blood cells to burst. This can lead to other symptoms, such as acute kidney injury and jaundice.
Spiders have blue blood. In humans, oxygen is bound to hemoglobin, a molecule that contains iron and gives blood its red color. In spiders, oxygen is bound to hemocyanin, a molecule that contains copper rather than iron.
When a spider travels, it always has four legs touching the ground and four legs off the ground at any given moment.
A spider’s muscles pull its legs inward, but cannot extend itslegs out again. Instead, it must pump a watery liquid into its legs to push them out. A dead spider’s legs are curled up, because there is no fluid to extend the legs again.
The venom of the black widow spider attacks nerves by blocking their signals to the muscles, which causes the muscles to contract repeatedly and often painfully. Black widow bites can also cause other nerve-related problems, such as high blood pressure, restlessness, and severe facial spasms.
The effects of a spider bite vary according to several factors, including the amount of venom injected and the size and age of the person who was bitten. Children and elderly people are especially susceptible.
Spiders have between two and six spinnerets at the back of their abdomen. Each one is like a tiny showerhead that has hundreds of holes, all producing liquid silk.
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Top o’ the morning!