Curiosity = Asking Questions = Learning
Learn interesting facts about spiders such as the number of eyes, number of Legs, hydraulic legs, what they eat, and many more.
A typical spider can live for 1 to 2 months without eating food. Due to uncertainty in the food supply, spiders have evolved such that they can regulate their metabolism according to their environment. Spiders generally have a low metabolism rate compared to similar-sized ectothermic poikilotherms (50% of the expected for their size). Low metabolic rate and carnivorous diet help spiders to survive without food for a long period.
It is not scientifically proven yet but yes, it is possible that spiders do fart. The reasons for flatulence in spider can be ingestion of air during sucking liquid diet or the gas produced by bacteria during the breakdown of liquid food in the stercoral sac.
Predators such as insectivorous birds, amphibians, reptiles, spider wasps, monkeys, other arachnids feed on spiders. Even some species of spiders such as wolf spiders and jumping spiders eat other spiders. Some species of male spiders are killed and eaten by their female spiders after mating. A deep-fried spider is one of the popular snacks in the town of Skuon, Cambodia.
Spiders are not insects, instead, they belong to arachnids. Spiders have two body segments, eight legs, multiple simple eyes, no antennae, and wings while insects have three body segments, six legs, one or two pairs of wings, and a pair of antennae. Therefore, spiders are not insects. Spiders are also not bugs because bugs are part of the Hemiptera order which belongs to the Insecta class. All bugs are insects and spiders are not insects. Therefore spiders are not considered bugs.
A typical spider can live for about 1-2 years. The lifespan of spiders depends on the species, sex, and external conditions. Female spiders usually live longer than male spiders. Some spider species such as tarantulas (15-20 years) live longer than other species such as house spiders (1-2 years). The lifespan of spiders is also gets reduced due to external factors such as parasites (Mermithid nematode), predators (hunting wasps), and many more.
Spiders control their leg movement with the help of flexor muscle (which contracts the legs inwards) and hydraulic pressure of hemolymph fluid (that helps in extending the legs). In the default position, the spider’s legs are flexed inwards due to flexor muscles. During locomotion, spiders increase their hemolymph pressure to extend their leg. When they die, this hemolymph pressure decreases, and the spider’s legs are forced to their default position. Therefore, the spider’s legs curl up in a ball when they die.
No, not all spiders spin webs. All spiders have the ability to produce silk but only some of them use them for the construction of the web. Spiders generally web to build an egg sack to protect its eggs. While there are some spiders use the web to catch or trap prey. Some spiders don’t use silk for web construction but they use silk to climb on smooth vertical surfaces, to wrap their prey, to run on them in an open chase, to drink water, to build egg sack, and many other.
Just like other animals and insects, spiders do require and drink water. But they don’t drink water as frequently as humans do. Most of them satisfy their water requirement through the fluid sucked out of the prey. There are spiders such as black widow spiders and redback spiders who don’t require drink water at all because the fluid sucked from their prey is enough for them to meet their water requirement.