60 Interesting Facts About Spiders

Last updated on December 26th, 2022

Spiders are everywhere from the Amazon jungles to home gardens. Don’t be scared if you see one. They rarely bite people, and most venoms aren’t life-threatening. Instead, allow yourself to be fascinated by these natural weavers. No other animal can build homes, spring traps, and make shields quite like they do. They have inspired songs, stories, and symbolisms. They are also making their mark on medicine, fashion, and defense, thanks to pioneers who are keen on unlocking the secrets of spider silk. Spiders have much to teach us. With these 60 interesting facts about spiders, let us learn more about these air-breathing arthropods.

Origins and General Facts about Spiders

1. Etymology

After seeing them make webs, ancient Germanic tribes called these creatures “spin-þron” which literally means “spinner”. The word evolved over the millennia into its current form: spider.

2. Creation Before Control

Spiders didn’t become expert weavers overnight. Their ancestors first developed the ability to make silk around 386 million years ago, but they couldn’t control it.

3. Necessity is the Mother of Invention

The first modern spiders emerged 240 million years ago, a time when flying insects were becoming abundant. Spiders needed a way to catch these, so they learned to spin silk and create sticky aerial traps.

4. Biggest Fossil Spider

In 2005, Inner Mongolia farmers found an inch-long fossil spider — gigantic compared to past specimens. It died 165 million years ago and was preserved by volcanic ash.

5. Impressive Diversity

Spiders around the world have adapted to their environment and branched out into 50,000 distinct species – the 7th most diverse order among all organisms. The 50,000th spider registered is the Guriurius minuano.

6. Biomass

The total mass of spiders on earth is estimated at 25 million tons. As excellent hunters, they can consume a total of 400 to 800 million tons of prey each year.

7. Spiders Are Not Insects

Spiders are arachnids, not insects. Look closer to see the difference. They don’t have antennae, wings, or a midsection. They have eight legs instead of six.

8. Longevity

Life is short for most spiders. They typically last a year, although tarantulas are known to live up to 25 years in captivity.

A mass of little yellow spiders. Facts about spiders — Spider facts: a mass of little yellow spiders. Photo © Stefan1992

9. Spider Societies

Most spiders are solitary, but some are social animals that can form colonies of up to 50,000 members. Multiple generations share the same nest and care for the brood.

10. Related Species

Spiders are arthropods, which means they are invertebrates with exoskeletons. Their closest relatives are scorpions, mites, and ticks – all under the class arachnida.

Spider Anatomy Facts

11. Straw Mouth

Did you know that spiders can’t chew? They digest prey outside their body by spraying acidic enzymes. Their mouth has a short straw to consume the liquified food.

12. Fangs

Spider fangs often stay hidden, swinging out only to inject prey with paralyzing venom. This chemical weapon reduces the risk of a dangerous struggle.

13. Hairy Legs

When spider senses are tingling, that’s probably just their hairy legs. The strands are sensitive enough to pick up scents and sounds in the environment.

14. Book Lungs

Spiders have a pair of book lungs in their abdomen. It consists of alternating air pockets and blood-filled tissue, which looks a lot like a stack of pages under a microscope.

15. Spinnerets

At the end of the abdomen are one to four pairs of spinnerets. Silk comes out of these small appendages, which carefully weave them into intricate patterns.

Spider eyes. Facts about spiders — Spider eyes. Photo © Susannah Anderson

16. Eyes

Most spiders have eight eyes, each with a single lens. Hunting spiders tend to have excellent color vision, but web-bound spiders often have poor eyesight.

17. Vibration

Spiders with poor vision make up for it with their extreme sensitivity to vibrations. They can sense waves on soil, water, or their own silk threads.

18. Air Pressure

Spiders can also detect changes in air pressure around them, giving them an additional method of finding the location of their prey.

19. Size Range

The smallest spiders are barely visible at under 0.37 mm long. The largest are likely to strike fear with a leg span that’s almost 10 inches.

20. Color

Most spiders have shades of black, brown, green, white, or silver. Some can change color based on what they eat. A few can instantly match their surroundings to hide.

Male Wolf Spider. Spider facts — Spider facts: male Wolf Spider. Photo © Marc Dufour

Spider Behaviour Facts

21. Mating Ritual

Spider dating is a dangerous game. Wary females may eat males who wander into their territory. Males perform courtship rituals to make their intention clear and stay safe.

22. Sacrificial Males

Some male spiders literally die for love. After mating, they don’t escape to safety. Instead, they sacrifice themselves, jumping directly to the female’s venomous fangs.

23. Sacrificial Mothers

In certain species, spider mothers may die while guarding their eggs. When these hatch, the baby spiders feed on the corpse to grow stronger.

24. Spiders Have a Sweet Tooth

Juvenile spiders love sweet nectar: rich in lipids, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. It’s less stressful. No need for venom or digestive enzymes. No grappling with prey.

25. Spider Scavengers

Hustle culture is overrated. Instead of hunting, spiders may search for dead arthropods or eat protein-rich webs, including pollen caught in the threads.

26. Web Orientation Strategies

Spiders can weave their webs vertically to catch insect mid-flight. They can also build horizontally to trap insects that are flying up after feeding from flowers or other vegetation.

27. Casting Nets

Some spiders weave small nets and cast these onto their prey to like a trap. Passive species simply stretch, wait for contact, and release. More aggressive species lunge and push the net onto their prey.

28. Ambush Predators

Not all spiders make web traps. Some hide in burrows and wait for insects to crawl nearby. In a snap, they’ll open a door and grab the unsuspecting prey into their hole.

29. Chasing Prey

Jumping spiders are intrepid explorers. They move around and chase their prey, allowing them to cover a wider area. These are highly intelligent hunters who can use trickery

30. Mimicry

Spiders may mimic ants by making their front legs look like antennae, leaving them with six walking legs. They can also behave like part of the colony. The disguise protects them from predators like lizards, and helps them prey on ants and aphids.

	Some common questions about spiders
1.	What do spiders eat? Spiders love protein-rich insects. They set elaborate web traps to catch their flying meals. Their favorites include flies, moths, mosquitoes, dragonflies, and crickets. In the wild, tarantulas may inject venom on bigger prey like lizards, frogs, mice, and bird hatchlings. A few species eat plant matter like sap, pollen, nectar, leaf, and seeds.
2.	How and when do they sleep? Spiders sleep with eight eyes open. Without eyelids to close these up, it's difficult to tell whether they are resting or looking out for their next meal. In general, they tend to be active at night and calm during the day. Most lie still on their webs. Non-weavers may burrow underground. Tarantulas sleep on their back with legs pointing up.
3.	How much do they weigh? The heavyweight champion of spiders is the goliath bird-eater. In 1998, a two-year old specimen weighed in at 170g and spanned 28 cm. Other titans include the giant huntsman spider (136g) and the Brazilian Salmon pink bird-eater (100g). Fortunately, most are much smaller and lighter, ranging from 0.5 to 90mm and weighing just a few grams.
4.	What are the colours they are found in? It's common to see brown spiders because of a natural pigment called melanin. Some have patches of green, blue, red, purple, or pink thanks to photonic cells. A few have excess guanine that reflect sunlight and make them look white or silver.
5.	How and when do spiders excrete? Spiders poop just like other animals. The frequency depends on their food consumption. Droppings look like tiny paint splatter: white, brown, and black. They may also excrete bolus, which is a white ball of undigested bits of prey.
6.	What are the types of spiders that are generally found in a house? You've probably seen spiders around your home. Most are non-poisonous, including the common house spider, cellar spider, funnel weaver, jumping spider, and wolf spider. Meanwhile, the sac spider, brown spider, and black widow much rare but poisonous.
7.	How do spiders weave their web and how long so these survive? Orb weavers start with radial lines, fortify the center, and move in a spiral twice. The first pass is for placing the guide lines and the second pass is for spinning the sticky silk trap. Spider webs can resist bacteria and last up to several weeks.
8.	What are the different types of webs and their uses? Spiders may be classified by the type of web they build: spiral orb webs, tangle webs, funnel webs, sheet webs, or tubular webs. These are used to catch prey like flying insects and to protect against predators like wasps.
9.	Do spiders eat their own web and if yes, why? Yes, spiders eat their own web all the time. They consume the protein-rich silk to digest the nutrients and get fresh material for another build. Spiders are lean and mean recycling machines.
10.	What are the favourable conditions for spiders to survive? Spiders are found in nearly all environments except the extremely cold region of Antarctica. They are likely to survive for as long as they have access to water and food, usually in the form of insects.
11.	What is the life span of spiders and their different life stages? Most spider species live for less than a year, but some can hang on for over two decades. They go through three life stages. Females lay eggs, which hatch into small spiderlings, that eventually grow into reproductive adults.
12.	What type of spiders are used for research? Poisonous spiders, like the black widow, help scientists create better antivenom drugs. Meanwhile, golden orb weavers and similar species are vital in spider silk research.
13.	What types of spiders are generally found in the zoos? Zoos tend to display large spiders with distinctive appearance and interesting traits. Examples include golden orb spiders, fen raft spiders, giant funnel web spiders, giant rose hair tarantulas.
14.	What are the types of spider silk and which ones are the most common? Dragline silk is used for lifelines, web outer rims, and spokes. Capture-spiral silk, as the name implies, is the sticky thread that goes around the web. Tubiliform silk protects the egg sacs. Aciniform silk wraps fresh prey. Lastly, minor ampullate silk is good for temporary scaffolding while the web is under construction.
15.	Facts About Spiders' Brain Tiny spiders have a large brain-to-body ratio, with some allotting almost 80% of their total volume to the central nervous system. The brain's anterior region is connected to the eyes, which is more developed among visual hunters. Meanwhile, the posterior region is connected to the legs and abdomen. It is bigger among spiders who build webs and sense prey through vibrations. Some species have lost the ability to weave, so they survive by stealing prey from other spiders. Despite all these, their brain size remains comparable to the weavers, perhaps because they still need brain power for stealth and strategy.
16.	5 Interesting Facts about Spider Silk 1. Spider silk is tougher than Kevlar, the synthetic fiber used in bulletproof vests and combat helmets. 2. Spider silk is lighter than cotton. If a spider spun a long strand of silk around the Earth, then the total weight would be less than 500 grams. 3. Spider silk's tremendous ductility allows it to stretch up to 5x its original length without breaking apart. 4. Spider silk stays moist thanks to an organic compound called pyrrolidine. It keeps the glue threads sticky while also warding off ant invaders like a natural pesticide. 5. Silkworms, E. coli bacteria, tobacco plants, potato plants, and goats have been genetically altered in attempts to produce spider silk in large quantities.

Spiders web. Interesting facts about spiders. Photo © Rory Trappe

Spider Web Facts

31. Composition

Spider silk is a long protein fiber. It is slightly acidic to repel fungi and bacteria. Different silk glands produce different types of fibers: sticky silk for catching prey, fine silk to wrap the catch, and so on.

32. Silk Production

Inside spiders are glands with liquid silk. Fibers are made on demand. They can use their legs to pull threads away from their body, or rely on their weight to create a trail as they hang down.

33. Evolving Use of Silk

The ancestors of spiders used to live on water. When they moved to land, they made silk to protect their eggs and their bodies. Over time, it became a tool for sending signals, creating guide lines, ground webs, and finally aerial webs.

34. Energy Savings

One of the benefits of building webs is that spiders don’t have to stray far and run around. They save energy by remaining in one area, letting food come to them.

35. Web Recycling

Spiders are natural conservationists. Instead of abandoning old ineffective webs, many will eat these to recover the protein and get fresh raw materials to build a new one.

36. Wind Sailing

Certain spiders squirt long silk threads into the air and let the wind blow it several meters away. These become a highway for crossing safely to another location — useful if the ground is filled with predators.

37. Low-gravity Construction

In 1973, astronauts took spiders into space to observe the effects of zero gravity. It took a day for these to adapt to weightlessness and complete a web. After this was destroyed, they made a second web which was more elaborate than the first.

Labyrinth Orb Weaver Spider. Spider fact file — Labyrinth Orb Weaver Spider. Interesting facts about spiders. Photo © Theodore Lee

38. Spot the Difference

Scientists found that space-spun webs had finer threads and a slightly different pattern than those on Earth. A light source reduced disorientation, allowing spiders to build normally despite zero gravity.

39. Web Strength

Spider silk has a tensile strength that exceeds steel of the same weight. It is also more elastic, making it a good candidate for artificial tendons.

40. Conductive Material

Spider webs can conduct electricity. Since flying insects develop a static charge, they attract the silk as they approach. The threads spring out to meet them, making it harder to evade.

Spider Applications

41. Cobweb Paintings

In the 16th century, artists in the Austrian Alps stretched cobwebs over cardboard and strengthened the strands with diluted milk. They brushed this with watercolor to create beautiful images.

42. Traditional Medicine

Before the arrival of modern medicine, European doctors applied cobwebs on wounds to reduce bleeding and promote healing. It worked thanks to the blood clotting property of the web’s Vitamin K.

43. Musical Instruments

Nigerians make musical instruments using animal parts such as cow horns for their xylophones. These have holes covered in spider webs to induce a buzzing sound.

44. Military Protection

Some telescopic rifle sights use fine spider web for their crosshairs to improve accuracy. The military is also trying to develop spider silk body armor to protect troops on the battlefield.

45. Venom Medicine

Spider venom is now being used as a natural insecticide. It’s an intriguing alternative for fruit and vegetable farmers that want to move away from harmful chemicals.

spider fact file — Interesting facts about spiders. Photo © Magnus Hagdorn

46. Insulin Pump Alternative

In 2015, scientists reported the creation of engineered tissue using spider silk, bacteria, and insulin-producing cells. They hope to turn this into a replacement for mechanical insulin pumps.

47. Spider Silk Fashion

Fashion designer Stella McCartney and synthetic spider silk company Bolt Threads are creating sustainable fabrics. The material is made from spider silk genes, sugar, and yeast.

48. Running Shoes

Want to speed up? Train hard and wear lightweight shoes. Adidas created prototypes featuring lightweight high-strength threads with synthetic spider silk.

49. Light Parka

The North Face has created lightweight parka using spider super-silk. Japanese startup Spiber launched its own Moon Parka to celebrate the Apollo 11 landing.

50. Breast Implant Coat

Breast implants are prone to bacterial infection. Scientists are applying a coat of spider silk around the implants to shrug off bacteria and prevent immune system issues.

wolf spider — Wolf spider. Interesting facts about spiders. Photo © ~ Mike Bell ~

Spiders in Culture

51. The Talented Mortal Arachne

In Greek mythology, Arachne was a skilled weaver who challenged Athena and won. Infuriated, the goddess turned her into a spider who is condemned to weave forever.

52. Aunt Nancy

Anansi is a tricky spider in West African myth. Slaves carried the story to the US, where the name changed into Aunt Nancy. It inspired Neil Gaiman’s novel “Anansi Boys.”

53. Nazca Spider Geoglyph

Over 2000 years ago, Nazca people of Peru made giant mystical drawings by digging rust-colored ground. One of them is a spider, visible only through aerial surveys.

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