Spiders

Spiders can tell the difference between prey and potential mates by the way they make the web vibrate!

Net-casting spiders hold a special web between their front legs and drop it onto passing prey!

Some spiders roll into a ball and tumble away from danger by using the slope of the ground!

Spiders can detect and respond to weather changes, often reinforcing their webs before storms!

Habitat & Survival

Spiders live on every continent except Antarctica and can be found in almost every habitat on Earth!

The Darwin’s bark spider builds webs across rivers that can span up to 82 feet (25 meters) — longer than a school bus!

Some spiders build waterproof nests underwater, filled with air bubbles where they can live and hunt!

Cave spiders can survive for months without food by slowing down their metabolism!

Some spiders create tent-like shelters out of leaves using their silk to protect themselves from rain!

Certain spiders can survive being frozen solid in winter by producing special chemicals in their bodies that work like antifreeze!

Ballooning spiders can travel through the air for hundreds of miles by releasing strands of silk that catch the wind!

Some spiders build trap doors on their burrows that blend in perfectly with the surrounding ground!

Spiders have been found living at elevations of over 22,000 feet (6,700 meters) in the Himalayas!

Some forest-dwelling spiders build their webs between trees at different heights to catch different types of flying insects!

Life Cycle

A single spider egg sac can contain anywhere from 2 to 1,000 eggs, depending on the species!

Spider eggs usually hatch within 2–3 weeks, but some species’ eggs can survive through the winter and hatch in spring!

Baby spiders molt (shed their exoskeleton) up to 10 times before reaching adult size!

Most spiders live for about 1–2 years, but some tarantulas can live for more than 20 years!

Female spiders can store sperm from male spiders for months or even years before using it to fertilize their eggs!

Some baby spiders eat their mother’s unfertilized eggs as their first meal!

Spiderlings often practice web-building skills by making tiny, imperfect webs before creating full-sized ones!

Male spiders stop eating and focus only on finding a mate once they reach maturity!

Some spider species can reproduce without mating, producing clone babies in a process called parthenogenesis!

Spider eggs are protected by several layers of silk that keep them warm and safe from predators!

Most spiderlings disperse by ballooning — floating through the air on silk threads — within days of hatching!

Some mother spiders liquefy their own bodies to feed their babies in a process called matriphagy!

Baby tarantulas develop their urticating (irritating) hairs after their second molt!

Some spiders continue to molt throughout their lives, even as adults, though less frequently!

Female spiders can produce multiple egg sacs in their lifetime, with some making a new one every few weeks!

Some spiders take up to three years to reach maturity, molting many times along the way!

Spider eggs develop faster in warmer temperatures, which is why more spiders hatch in spring and summer!

Spiders can regrow lost legs each time they molt, especially when they’re younger! As they grow, their new legs may start off smaller, but with each molt, they get closer to the size of the original ones.

After molting, a spider’s new exoskeleton takes several hours to harden completely!

Some mother spiders carry their egg sac in their fangs, never putting it down until the eggs hatch!

Spiderlings begin producing silk within hours of hatching!

The size of a spiderling when it hatches is often less than 1 millimeter — smaller than a grain of salt!

Some species of spiders can lay up to 3,000 eggs in their lifetime!

Diet & Feeding

Some large spiders can catch and eat small fish, frogs, and even birds!

Spiders help control insect populations — all the world’s spiders eat between 400-800 million tons of insects each year!

Most spiders wrap their prey in silk before eating it, creating a neat “food package”!

Some spiders share their meals with others in their colony, regurgitating food for their neighbors!

Some spiders attach weights to their webs using small pebbles to make them more stable in the wind!

Some spiders feed mainly on pollen and nectar when they’re young before switching to catching prey as adults!

Spiders need to drink water and can die from dehydration faster than from starvation!

Most spiders can survive for several weeks without food, and some can go without eating for several months!

Spiders digest their food outside their bodies by injecting digestive juices into their prey!

The average house spider eats around 2,000 insects each year!

Spiders help control insect populations — all the world’s spiders eat between 400-800 million tons of insects each year!

Most spiders wrap their prey in silk before eating it, creating a neat “food package”!

Fishing spiders can detect ripples on water’s surface to locate prey!