Some Interesting Spider Facts

Certain insect species have fascinated human beings since they first came into contact with us. You have ants, bees, butterflies and of course spiders. Spiders are some of the easiest insects to observe, and they have caught our imagination for a reason. Here are some interesting spider facts:

Spiders are not technically insects

Spiders are not actually considered insects, they are technically arachnids. This sets them apart from the larger insect family because they have eight legs instead of six, more than two eyes, only two body segments, and the spinnerets that produce silk in their abdomen. A minor difference, but an interesting one nonetheless.

There are a lot more spiders than you’d like to think about

Researchers found that there are as many as 5.5 million spiders on 2.5 acres of land, which is an area slightly larger than a baseball field.

Spider eyes

When we think of spiders, we think of eight legs and eight eyes, but not all spider species have eight eyes. Some have only six. However, that is as low as they go, and there are no spiders with more than eight eyes.

How spider silk is made

Spider silk actually starts out as a watery gel composed of long protein chains that is squeezed through a tube that tapers gradually. Through this narrowing tube, coatings are applied to the protein liquid in order to make it sticky and water resistant, before ultimately leaving the spider’s body through small spigots on the spinneret of the spider. The gel only becomes solid when it is stretched, so it is not actually pushed out of the spider’s body, but rather pulled out. Not only that, but a spider’s body is capable of producing several types of fibers with different properties for different uses.

Some spiders eat their own web

Since we know that the web is full of protein, does it ever make sense to waste it, especially when meals are hard to come by in the wild? Of course not. Some orb-weaver spiders will eat their own webs when they are damaged in order to recover amino acids and proteins. Other species however will either discard it or recycle it, and use it as an egg sac.

There’s no doubt that spiders can be very interesting, but they can also be pests. If you have a spider infestation, you probably want to get rid of it as quickly as possible. Contact us today and we will help you out with that.