Spider Facts for Spidery Peter inspiration PT 1, I have a biology book I need to read, plus I’m very tired lol:
Spider Biology Termonology:
Chelicerae (the mouth parts of spiders, the fangs are underneath and the movement of these appendages gives the impression of moving fangs)
(Some Mouse Spiders have a ‘pit Bull bite’ where they have a full lock on prey and do not let go)
Venom Sacs (located near chelicerae. Simple explanation: inactive venom is created and then later made active using enzymes. It’s Activated during/after hunting or while defensive. Their fangs are black usually, but I did find one spider with red fangs)
Pedipalps (the shorter legs near the chelicerae, they’re often used to hold prey)
Palpal bulbs (only on males, they’re bulbs on the end of pedipalps that are used during copulation instead of typical male genitalia)
scopulae (dense pads of hair, compared to puppy paw pads)
Cephalothorax (fused head and thorax, also called the Prosoma—though that also can include the appendages— and Carapace. If their head can fit so can the rest of them)
Opisthosoma (abdomen/back half of a spider. Fuller abdomens indicate well fed spiders and the possibility of a molt)
Exoskeleton (an outter bone structure)
Sucking stomach (still figuring this out, but they seem to have straw-like mouths and internal organs that help them suck down food. Their venom helps kill and paralyze and then they regurgitate digestive fluid, or excrete saliva? I’ve read about both and I don’t know if it’s because both are true or the article writers didn’t care about terminology)
Serrula (some spiders have toothed keeled they can use to ‘chew’ up prey)
Trichobrothrium (elongated setae, the ‘hairs’ on spiders, used for taste, hearing (the vibration sensing ties into this), and touch. ‘Stickiness’ comes from the spider setae having thousands of smaller branches called setules. Using van der Walls force, they lock on invisible electrical attractions between molecules. How well and what they can stick to depends on species. Some can be kept at bay using glass cups while others can crawl the entire area of the cup (brachypelma). These hairs may also help the spider avoid sucking in anything too big and help them avoid consuming chemicals.)
Wall Spore sensilla (hairs that help with smelling, articles seem to be suggesting these are located only on the feet, legs, and pedipalps)
Spinnerettes (where silk comes out of)
Tarsal claws (spiders have little black claws, and what looks similar to paws, spiders with two claws are usually active hunters while spiders with three rely more on webs)
Booklungs (spider lungs, essentially, air passes through the ‘pages’ and they do not/ cannot force air in the way we do nor can they hold their breath. Fast spiders like Wolf Spider and the cartwheeling dessert spider have to take breaks between movements to prevent suffocation. Spiracles open and close to allow air in or keep anything unwanted out)
Hemolymph (spider ‘blood’. It appears blue when oxygenated instead of red like ours due to the use of copper instead of iron. They’re cold-blooded, so they use shade and natural heat to regulate their temperature. They sometimes sunbathe because of this.)
Metabolism (this is how your body turns food and drink into energy. This also sets the demand for Oxygen. Spiders have a low metabolism, so they don’t need as much food, water, or oxygen because of how slowly they work through those things. Tarantulas typically eat once a month, but active hunters, like jumping spiders, Will eat every few days. They also go to the bathroom infrequently, and do not need to pee. Fun fact: their poop is white and is known as uric acid)
(Also note, Female spiders are typically bigger and less colorful. If you want to see a crazy difference, look up the Bolas spider)
Legs (they have 8 legs divided into 7 segments, from Coxa (attaches leg to body) to the foot: trochanter, femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus)
slit sensilla (small inner Stede slits in the exoskeleton that helps the Forest Huntman navigate the dark)
Terrestrial (ground dwelling spiders)
Arboreal (High dwelling, these spiders tend to be better at climbing)
Old World (spiders from the eastern hemisphere, they tend to be more defensive/aggressive, and have stronger venom. The opposite of this is New World spiders who are typically a lot calmer)
Stridulation (producing sound by rubbing body parts, how spiders hiss and purr. They have the presence of stiff brushes on the higher end of their chelicerae and ‘pins’ on the lower end)
Molting (the shedding of a spider’s old exoskeleton. Signs include: dill coloration, baldness, loss of appetite, plump abdomens, a silken Mat used to help pull off the old exoskeleton, lethargy, sealing off any entrances, and fluid leaking from joints. This process can take minutes or days).
Diapause (the ‘hibernation’ aspec is mentioned later, this causes the development of eggs to stop when it’s colder, then continue again once it warms up so they hatch during an optimal time)
Instar (phases between molting periods)
Silk (the white strands of webs. Types of silk, strength, and usage is determined by the number of spinnerettes, spingots, and other silk organs. Water often stays as droplets on webs and the Brush-Footed spider produces a silk waterproof enough it can create webs very, very close to water. Possibly in the water, but I’m too lazy to double check. Silk can be eaten and re-used (orb weavers) or completely left behind (jumping spiders). There is sticky silk, non-sticky, thin strands, and thick strands)
Cribellate silk (wooly silk, made using cribellum, not all spiders have. Silk is pulled using calamistrum hairs on the metatarsi. This song may interact with the semifluid wax found on insect exoskeletons, decreasing their chances of escape)
Ecribellate silk (sticky silk, does not have cribellum)
Swathing prey (wrapping prey to immobilize it)
Dragline (silk Strand used to prevent falling, en of silk is attatched to object while the rest of it remains attatched to spinnerettes)
Urticating hair (barbed hair some spiders kick off, can cause skin irritation, rashes, and trouble breathing. Intensity depends on species)
Aggregate spigots (trumpet-shaped spigots that make sticky silk glue)
flagelliform spigots (cord fiber and viscid sticky silk
Gravid (female with eggs)
Territorial vs Social (many spiders are very aggressive towards other spiders as a means of defending themselves and territory, while other spiders live in communal webs. Females typically partake is all activities and work together while the males take food and hang out until breeding season. Other spiders may huddle together while resting before parting ways, or simply live near each other with no issues, possibly due to an abundance of food and lack of competition)
Aggressive vs Defensive (Aggression in animals is them starting the conflict, defensive behaviors are the result of aggressive behaviors. Most spiders are defensive. This all depends on species as Jumping Spiders tend to be more curious and garden spiders usually work with people and see them. Location also matters, as mentioned during the part on old and new world spiders)
Spiderling (baby spiders/ unmature spiders, shortened to Sling by many tarantula keepers)
Nocturnal (animals most active at night, as many spiders are. Also I did see a study suggesting they might sleep, but they might also just remain inactive but conscious. At the very least, they are more aware of their surrounding even while ‘sleeping’)
Diurnal (animals most active during the day, as many spiders also are)
Crepuscular (animals most active during dusk and dawn, probably some spiders here too I’d guess)
Synanthropic (living around humans thus being easily transported humans)
Cluster (a group of spiders)
Aposematism (deliberate use of signals like bright colors, sounds, or orders used to signal they are toxic)
araneophagic (eating only other spiders)
While most spiders eat insects or small animals, Bagheera Kiplingi spiders feed off the nodules of the acacia tree. Others can be found sucking on the juices from vegetables and fruits
Vampire Spiders feed off mosquitos and prefer the ones who have just drank human blood
Assassin Spiders (and many other spiders) go after other spiders
Some New Zealand tunnel spiders eat snails by biting into the snail’s foot to prevent it from retreating inside its shell
(Spiders get a lot of their water from prey and humidity)
Spider things (not hunting, webs, or courting yet):
Purring and Hissing (the how mentioned in the terminology section)
Molting (a major reason spiders need humidity, they shed their old exoskeleton to allow for growth. Younger spiders molt more often than older ones and have to wait for a first molt before being able to feed. Adults have to wait a few days post-molt while their fangs harden)
Overwintering/Diapause (spiders don’t hibernate, they instead enter a dormant state known as diapause where their development and metabolism slows. They also produce antifreeze to prevent bodily fluids from freezing. Heat seemingly causes similar inactivity at around 104 degrees F, but I’m still figuring out how that works. Trachelidae Trachelophachys stop for three hours during the hottest part of the day before continuing on. It seems to be quickly activated and deactivated)
Torpor (state of decreased physiological activity. Metabolic rate and body temperature are lowered)
Taste and Touch (they use their setae to taste and sense vibrations, touch is their strongest sense. They can feel very, very minor vibrations and air shifts and are second best at it. Wolf Spiders have been found to drop food with isothiocyanate (an active ingredient in mustard and wasabi)on it, and immediately clean themselves, but keep food with capsaicin (found in peppers) and menthol (found in mint leafs). Chemical exposure reactions were found to be similar to that of a human)
Death Curl (spiders use hydraulic pressure to move, so when they die, or pretend they died, their legs curl up)
Happy Dance (no one knows why, but spiders can sometimes be seen bouncing up and down after grabbing food)
Threat Pose (spiders lift themselves up to show off their fangs and smack anything getting too close. Spiders not wanting to engage in fights will slowly back away. Interestingly, Tarantulas really throw themselves up while Jumpers lift their legs and keep their pedipalps from covering their fangs, their threat pose is less obvious. They may also lift their legs when preparing to jump)
Observing (jumping spiders often will look at curious humans. All the ones I’ve looked at, turned their entire body to look at me before eventually leaving)
Mint/Smell (a lot of spiders don’t like the smell of mints, but a few, like those found in gardens, don’t mind it. What smells a spider does or doesn’t like depends on species. Spiders also have their own smell that they use to identify each other. Males use this smell to find females)
Vision (many spiders have very poor vision, but a few, like jumpers can see very well. Smaller eyes are used for detecting motion, and they’ve been found to be able to distinguish between living and non-living objects. Also they do not have eye lids and don’t blink. They can’t move their eyes so they move their bodies to change what and where they are looking. Some spiders can see well In the dark because their tapetum lucidum reflects visible light back into their eyes)
Trichromatic ‘true’ vision (Jumping spiders can see green and ultraviolet and have filters for red, so they can see the same colors as humans. And because they have an entire channel dedicated to UV light, they can also see colors we can’t. But they seem to can things line by line in order to see all the different colors)
Speed (a newly discovered huntsman spider can run 3.6 meters per second. Wolf spiders are also so fast, people describe their movements as teleportation. Salicidae Portia, while capable of moving fast, often moves so slow they aren’t perceived as being alive)
Cleaning (spiders clean off their webs and themselves, though a few spiders purposely keep themselves dirty and they even wipe down their eyes. They use either their hairs to ‘wipe’ themselves or they stick their legs in their mouth—maybe using their mouth hairs. The ones I’ve observed seemed to use their actual mouth though. This helps them continue to sense vibrations. They might also have saliva that helps break down chemicals to help clean them, but alas, I found that information in middle school, so take this with a grain of salt)
Webs (spider webs move towards things that are electrically charged, so prey. How spiders don’t stick to their webs has many theories: they secrete a special oil, the webs are structured a certain way every time so they know where to not move, their hairs help them not stick, they use their claws to not stick…)
Digestion (mentioned above, they turn the innards of prey into a liquid and suck that down. Exoskeletons helps keep the fluids in when it comes in insects. They also wrap their food up in silk while they wait)
Water (fishing spiders use their hairs to float, while diving bell spiders use their hairs to create air pockets around their abdomen to breath out of. They also move the air bubbles to create bigger air pockets to live in. Other spiders may be able to float as well, but many drown).
Laser Pointers (jumping spiders may chase red laser pointers)
Water Fights (tarantulas sometimes smack at water when owners attempt to refill their water bowls)
Strumming (spiders may pull or strum their silk to figure out what they’ve caught and where it is)
Drumming (could not find an article talking about this, but I have witnessed many jumpers moving their pedipalps up and down while looking around and thinking. Maybe to vibrate the ground and figure out where it and other things are?)
Digging (done by the pedipals or chelicerae (which often have rastellum), mouths often hold and move dirt. Their spinnerettes can be seen moving around as they use their silk to prevent collapsing)
Atracidae Atrax (they have a very potent venom that lizards are interestingly un-effected by)
Balance (spiders have incredible balance so they can stay on their webs. They also lack balance and acceleration sensors, and use their eyes to tell up vs down. They don’t get dizzy as we do, they lack the inner ears and fluids we use for orientation, and would only get confused if something happened to their hairs, vision, or nervous system)
Open circulation (their organs are coated in blood and their heart is a simple tube surrounded by muscle)
Organizing (captive spiders have been found rearranging their terrariums. They also will move stuff back if you try to move anything)
Limb Removal (spiders, like running crab spiders, will rip off limbs that are either injured or getting in the way, mating troubles. They adapt to the loss of limbs incredibly quickly. Younger soiders almost always regenerate lost limbs while adults may or may not) [fan fiction stuff: I love the idea of Peter having to amputate himself, which he does surprisingly easily, and then very quickly adapting and sort of helping Connors because his attitude is more positive]
Caffeine (this is created by plants to deter spiders and causes them to create uglier webs. I’ve seen stuff on drugs making spiders create gorgeous webs, and while I know part of this ‘idea’ was spread around via a YouTube poop, there does seem to be actual studies)
Traveling (many tarantulas have been observed traveling many meters away from home, yet still being able to return to their retreats. They aren’t sure if this is done using allothetic cues (landmarks, or visual inputs) Or idiothetic (body signals and movement) cues. It might also be due to the sensing of pheromones.)
Playing dead (Wolf spiders, also other spiders don’t completely curl up, they appear as though they are hiding behind their legs)
Threat pose (mentioned above, spiders that hiss will do so while in a threat pose)
Venom (most spiders bite down to inject venom, but spitting spiders spit their venom. Spitting spiders can also shoot out a sticky substance from their fangs. Wether or not they can spit a sticky substance and silk, or just silk, or just sticky stuff, I have yet to figure out. Venom also regenerates but slowly. Antivenoms are made using antibodies)
Crushing Prey (Philoponella vicina wraps it’s prey in hundreds of meters of silk to crush the prey to death before using digestive fluid to liquify it)
Web Nets (Ogre Eyes spiders create web nets they use to ensnare prey)
Cone webs (Ray spiders create orb webs with fused rays that the spider’s back legs hold until it’s in a cone shape. The spider releases the cone shape and traps nearby prey. Other ray spiders have sort of fishing lines—they hang silk lines that adhere to a water’s surface, which catches prey that floats in the water)
Silk Lines (Bolas females create a line of silk with a glob of glue at the end they swing at prey. Males put their pedipalps up and prey)
Smell (The Bolas spider also has the ability to release pheromones to make it smell like moths to lure in moths. The sticky glob is what smells like ‘moth sex’).
Fishing (fishing spiders float on the water and sense the vibrations of prey before using their legs to grab it)
Sling shot (triangle weavers create web sling shots they use to catapult themselves towards prey. Also as of June this year a new Ballista spider was discovered that builds this ‘catapult’ trap that ants step into and then get launched into the spider’s web)
Jumping (jumping spiders jump at prey, who would’ve guessed. They also create silk safety lines when jumping in case they fall. Phidippus audax can jump 10-50 times it’s own body length)
Cartwheeling (a desert spider species cartwheels itself away from predators)
Changing Color (crab spider females change their colors to blend in with flowers. They either construct or destroy ommochromes, yellow pigment. White is caused by the guanine crystals produced by the spider’s metabolism. The process of changing takes a few days)
Phrynarachne Ceylonica (they camouflage as bird poop and seem to smell similar to the thing they hide as)
Patropis Tuxlenis (it encrusts itself in mud and debris to camouflage)
Other mimicry (some spiders mimick ants and beetles so they can avoid predators. Spiderlings mimic an ant species different to that of adults. They join real ants in eating honeydew. The crab spider that mimics ants will also eat the ants)
Darwin’s Bark spider (they create the largest known orb webs by using the wind to carry the silk as they pull it out. This allows them to suspend their orbs directly above water, where there is no competition for prey. They also look like bark and hide themselves on trees)
Web (like orb weavers, many sit and weight for prey. They are extremely good at staying still and being patient, more layer during web types)
Strumming (Portia jumpers strum on the web’s of other spiders to signal there’s prey to lure the other spider closer)
Decoys (some spiders use debris to create silhouettes that look like Sigs the spiders to ward off predators. One species shakes the web to make the decoy seem like it’s moving)
Sicarius (buries itself in sand and ambushes prey)
Grabbing prey (as seen in the many tarantula videos I’ve watched, spiders may grab prey very quickly and aggressively, or they may do so gently. Spiders of the same species can have different reactions and of course this reaction is partially due to the spider’s being in captivity)
Zip line (Amyciaea raises its abdomen in the air and let’s the wind catch its silk line. It waits for the silk to catch onto nearby plants than uses that line to cross and avoid predators)
Whirling (Pholcidae Pholcus swings rapidly on its web when threatened so it appears as a confusing blur)
Circling (Oecobids come out from their webs and circle prey, switching directions and wagging its abdomen back and forth. Two-tailed spiders do something similar to trap prey on tree trunks, using extremely long spinnerettes)
Head Diving (Termite hunting spiders dive head-first into sand while looking for termites. Psammoduon walking mud sPickers flip on their backs and wiggle their long legs to push themselves into sand using their long and supple hairs. They also do this to cool down)
Kleptoparasites (Mysmenopsis spiders live in the webs I of other spiders and eat the smaller prey ignored by the larger spider)
Ants again (Eilica releases chemicals similar to ants, allowing them free reign on ant nests. The spider destroys an ant’s antennae a before retreating, waiting until the ant seems to only walk in circles before attacking and taking the ant away)
Scuttling (scuttling spiders scuttle away sideways when approached)
Dew Drops (Neintistea riparia build new damn areas and use dew drops to capture prey)
The Leg Basket (Wolf spiders often surround their prey with their legs, helped by their erect spines
Cannibalism (babies often eat their mothers (known as Matriphagy) and each other (Siblicide, often dependent on available prey, size differences, and clutch density, seen in black widow babies). Male adults are also eaten by Female adults before, during, or after mating) (the social African Velvet Spider mimosarum and dumicola still eat their mothers and other females despite a usual lack of cannibalism in social spiders)
Tibial hooks (some males have hooks they use during mating to hold the female’s fangs and prevent cannibalism, such as seen in the long-jawed orb weaver)
Palpals (what usually inserts during mating, not on all male spiders though. Located at the end of pedipalps)
Pedipalps (Ctenzidae Ctenzia males have long pedipalps that helps distance them from the female’s fangs)
Wrappings (some makes wrap the female in silk to prevent cannibalism)
Nuptial Gifts (a male spider might wrap of real prey or rocks to give to females. This is to prevent females from eating them by feeding them or keeping them busy and distracted, seen in jumping spiders. The rocks are usually because the spider either couldn’t or didn’t want to find prey to wrap. They tend to die more when giving rocks)
Sacrifice (some males will put themselves into the females mouth, repeatedly, after mating. This helps ensure a meal for the newly fertilized eggs. Others will rip off and offer a leg before catapulting themselves away, like the male stuffed golden orb weaver. And a few are known to break off their palpals)
‘Kissing’ (Tetragnatha spiders lock chelicerae as the make uses sits sours to prevent biting)
Dancing (peacock spider males dance for females to entice them. They also have very colorful scales, modified hairs, they show off. Wolf spiders dace as well, but mostly move their legs and palps)
Purring (males use thus sound to attract females)
Pheromones (long-jawed orb weaver females and other species coat their silk in pheromones to lead males to them. Humans have actually looked into using spider pheromones to use as natural pesticides, before remembering this will keep bugs away but attract male spiders)
I can do the distance (many male spiders travel miles upon miles and cross dangerous roads to find females, that distance may be as great at 20 miles)
Drumming/tapping (purse-web males drum on the surface near the female’s web to signal they are not prey, interestingly, males may live with the female afterwards for months. Spiders also strum on webs and silk to signal this. Some females will tap back to signal interest)
Fighting (can also be for territorial reasons, males may fight to see who is the better mate. Jumping spider males like the Phidippus pacosauritus are one species that does this)
Silk Lines (Lynx spiders copulate while hanging from silk threads)
Web Destruction (female’s May leave traces of their pheromones on their silk to signal males. Once a male Widow has mated he will destroy parts of the web and fuse his own silk—which smells like him—to prevent other males from detecting the female)
Balloning (some species of spiders use their silk and the wind to fly to other locations once mature enough)
Piggie Back rides (Wolf spiders carry newly hatched spiderling for two weeks after hatching. They also carry around their egg sac)
Nests and Nurseries (some spiders create nests and nurseries for the babies, like jumping spiders. No article to be found, but spider keepers have noted female jumpers attempting to keep their babies within nests after hatching by re-covering any exits the babies create)
The only time the males help after mating (Nursery web spider males build webs over the female’s. They protect the females and spiderlings from predators, help catch food, and keep things clean. Females often leave before males do)
Toxeus Magnus (ant mimicking spider where the babies have been found nursing on their mom. It’s not milk, but might be eggs.
Stegodyphus sarasinorum, S lineatus (regurgitates fluids for their progeny, but no suckling occurs)
Frogs (some tarantulas live with frogs, the frogs protect the eggs from predators too small for tarantulas to grab while the tarantula protects the frog from predators)
Other form of carrying (Anansi female’s transport spiderlings in their chelicerae while some spiders have the sac attached to their spinnerettes)
More stuff with ants (some Eilica spiders release chemicals that allows them to pass as ants. Eggs are left in ant nests, where the ants will relocate the egg sac if the nest is destroyed)
First home in mother’s living room (funnel-web house juveniles build their first webs within the mother’s large web)
Web Types/ where they live:
Webs are created instinctually. Species dictates wether a web is even built and if it’s temporary (rebuilt or left behind entirely, yellow sac spiders) or permanent (maintained by cleaning and repairing rather than an entire rebuilt)
Egg Sacs (a silk covering over the eggs, looks different depending on species. Jumping Spiders, I’ve found, sleep in something that looks similar to an egg sac)
Tunnels (land dwelling spiders may dig elaborate tunnels or simply dig out underneath a piece of bark. Some of these spiders lay down long silk lines that act as trip wires, same for trap door underground dwellings (Liphistius))
Trap Door (some spiders build trap doors for their tunnels. One spider uses its coin-shaped abdomen to close the door and has been known to spook locals looking for money. Otherwise the doors are held either by being expertly shaped to the entrance, don’t by feeling the tunnel using spinnerettes, or held in place using the fangs).
Mats/Sheet webs (not only for molting, some spiders simply love covering everything around in a thick layer of silk)
Orb Webs (giant classic spiral web you think of)
Cob Webs (the messy silken structure often found in houses)
Funnel (a funnel-shaped web)
Catching latter (I believe the venom spitting spider shoots silk from its fangs, which allows it to create a sort of zig zag pattern. Articles don’t always use the proper terms, which makes it confusing, but I’m pretty sure I read three articles that mentioned this. Gradunglidae progradungula acreages a catching ladder as well and has no calamistrum, which is typically used with wooly silk. It sits in a silk line before clasping prey and pushing prey into the later)
Purse Web (a silken tube that extends deep within the ground, said to resemble a purse, with a portion of the tube above ground. The spider breaks through the tube when it finds prey, then further cuts it to be able to drag the prey in)
Lampshade (Hypochilidae Hypochilus, uses cribellate silk)
Stabilimeta (zig-zags found on some webs used to help birds see and avoid destroying the web)
Desis spider (during low tides they find cracks to hide and seal themselves in. Their waterproof silk keeps the water from drowning them. Scientists don’t know how they time this)
Drinking fountain (not really a type, but humidity causes filaments of the web to scrounge into knots puffs spaced with untangled strands. They look like beads and water will condense on the silk and slide towards the puffs and then into larger droplets. Scientists looked into this to see if they could get water from fog)
Gumfoot web (triangular webs on the underside of objects with lines running on the ground. The lines are tense with sticky drops that prey gets stuck in before the soider severs the thread and pulls the prey in. Cable spiders have inverted Y-shaped tops that carry the spider while the lower part, where the bales are, are held by the spider)
Hammocks (Pimoids create flat sheet webs close to the ground with the ends attached to stumps or hollow cavities. They hide near the edges before walking on the underside to hunt)
Meshweb (these spiders rely more on Van Der Whaals force and hygroscopic forces to catch prey, rather than the usually sticky strands)
More on Spider Diversity:
Hexathelidae Plesiothele has six spinnerettes with four of them being small and two very large. Larger spinnerettes often work like fingers helping wave out silk. The live in flimsy silk tubes
Dipluridae Cethegus is a curtain-web weaver with two small spinnerettes and two extremely large spinnerettes that comb out silk as it walks
Atracidae Atrax has four spinnerettes that are incredibly short and used to create funnel webs while Mecicobothriidae Mecicobothrium creates funnel webs with very long ‘whip-like’ spinnerettes
Liphistiidae Liphistius has spinner Closer to the front of the abdomen
Atypidae Sphodros build purse webs using six spinnerettes, the middle pair is wider and has triangular tips
Sicariidae Loxosceles spins flattened silk ribbons using only their spinnerettes (other spiders that do not use their legs usually still use the substrate itself to pull the silk out). Anterior lateral spinnerettes move rapidly while the silk is held by the posterior spinnerettes
Phrurolithidae Phurotimous have a dark pink to bright red silk they cover their eggs in
Barychelidae Sason weave water-repellent silk using very small spinnerettes
Garden Leg spiders have oval patches of setae on the metatarsi that may be used to detect air-motion and find springtails
Female araneid produces seven different types of silk (which I think is for: auxiliary spiral webs, drag lines, silk for attaching, silk for swathing prey, capture spiral webs, and silk for egg sacs)
Golden Silk orb-weaver female’s might connect their webs to nearby females’. Their silk can also ensnare birds
Ogre faced spiders have enlarged, circled eyes facing forward that hell with low-light night vision and do not have the typical tapetum lucidum found in other spiders, like Wolf spiders. The Ogre’s photosensitive retina is destroyed at dawn and then resynthesized
Common set up with tapetum lucidum: direct eyes (anterior median eyes) appear dark while indirect eyes have a silvery appearance (especially when slight is shined in them). The indirect eyes are used for seeing in the dark
[the tapetum lucidum is also described as making the eyes that house it appear pale]
The pair eyes on the side of a jumping spider eyes sense distant prey (it appears blurry and has a wide angle). The large middle front eyes provide a clear, focused telephoto image that might also provide color information. They internally move the eye capsules to look around and lock on prey while also moving their entire body to look. The raider front eyes judge the distance
Many other spiders are nearsighted
Euctenzidae Myrmekiaphila have lighter-build front legs despite using these legs for burrows
Halonoproctidae Conothele have saddle-shales tibias on their third pair of legs used to hold their trap door closed
Salticidae Mymarachne are ant mimicked with usually shaped bodies. They keep a front pair of legs raised to mimic ant antennae
Thomisidae Misumena have shorter hind legs and longer and stronger forelegs. The entire structure allows the spider to run backwards and sideways. They spread their for legs while waiting for prey to ambush
Selenopidae Selenops have laterigrade legs that allow the spider to lay flat against surfaces (the rest of their body is also naturally flat) and they can spin their bodies in complete circles eight times per second
Leptonetidae Calileptoneta have a cylindrical gland that creates silk used only for egg sacs
Liphistiids and Mygalomophs have up and down moving chelicerae
Araneomorphs have side to side moving chelicerae
Actinopodidae Missulena is the one that appears to have redder fangs
Scytodidae Scytode (spitting spider) has a special region in their venom glands that’s used to spit out a glue-like substances in a zig zag pattern
Dysderidae dysdera have flattened fangs and use one fang to hold the prey while the other slips underneath the armor
Heteropoda Davidbowie has a bright orange, fluffy look due to the longer, plentiful orange setae
Theraphosidae Braychpelma has both orange and black setae and have urticating hair in their abdomen
The cobalt blue spider, as the name suggests, has a striking blue color in part due to their setae
Irura biden ticulata make jumpers have a striking gold and purple
(honestly imagining Peter’s facial hair growing out and being rainbow or at least having speckles of color)
The Portia soider has tuffs on its keg, carapace, and ambomen
Memeseiidae xamiatus have silver hairs that makes them look glittery
Paratropididae paratropis have a reduced number of sensitive hairs, instead relying spines as they await, hidden by their encrusted bodies
Memeseiidae xamiatus have three claws, the upper two have rows of ‘teeth’
Hypochilidae hypochilus has four book lungs, many spiders only have one book lung
Austrochilidae hickmania lives several decades and has the move “Sixteen Legs” dedicated to it. Telemidae Telemark live up to 12 years, their eggs take 11 months to develop, and spiderlings stay juveniles for 3 years. The low temperature of the caves they reside in is thought to be why they live longer
Filistatidae kukulucania webs are permanent, but the spider continues to lay down new silk, so the funnel changes from being very neat to very messy over time
Female recluse spiders will keep the leg raised by forceps up in the air rather than raise it back down (Man Untangles Wolf Spider I has a Wolf spider show similar behavior)
Caponiidae Tarsonops do not have books lungs and instead sport a thick bunch of tubular tracheae
Aridian species have seven rocks placed around the entrance of their vertical tube-webs
Triaeris stenaspis female’s are parenthogetic (they don’t need males to lay viable eggs)
Ceratogyrus darlingi tarantulas have horns
Cribellate orb-weavers are seen avoiding touching their digestive enzymes by touching their prey only with their claws and the thick setae at the tips of their pedipalps. The enzymes also digest the spider’s silk (these are the stick-like spiders)
Arkys (triangle spiders) uses spines to catch prey
Linyphia triangularis males are bigger than females. They move into juvenile female’s web asserting dominance, protecting her, and eating on most of the prey. Whichever male stays the longest is who she mates with
Walckenaeria males feed females by using prosomic glands, producing secretions the female digests using her saliva (this is the spider with the giant eye stalks, my personal favorite)
Phoneutria nigriventer spidsrs are especially aggressive, even towards humans. (Their venom causes erections and is being research as a potential cure for impotence)
Fun fact: jumping spiders can navigate mazes and can tell the difference between ‘less’ and ‘more’ when it comes to prey. They are also amazing at analyzing distances before jumping, recognizing faces, planing, problem solving, learn from previous mistakes, and seem to be able tell that their reflections are not another spider. Their sleep also seems to show a REM-like state
A shout out to Shy Away (Ao3) because while I have researched spiders on my own time and pulled knowledge from there, every time I thought I was done with this post I’d remember another fact mentioned in that series, and then of course procure another fact kind of related to the first. Which was both a blessing and a curse because this took me hours to finish, and I still need to do more on the biology stuff. Black Obsidian Cat is on ao3 (there’s comments under my spider posts sometimes, I don’t wanna tag I’m tired), and has posted about stuff like spider chromosomes and kind of how spider puberty works. It might be mentioned in PT 2 of this if it’s in my book, but who knows
The sad thing is that there are probably obvious facts I’m missing 🥲 (also how sad is it that I still can’t spell spinnerete properly? I am not fixing that mistake, just look it up yourself lol)
Anyway thanks to the many, many articles I had to read plus my two spider books:
Spiders if the World | A Natural History by Norman I. Platnick
Spiders of the North Woods by Larry Weber (which I barley included because this post is absolutely killing my tablet already lol)
Edit: somewhere I mention oil being thought of as a possible way Spiders don’t stick to webs. It doesn’t really have any backing to it, but hey, you can still use it for fanfics maybe. I’ve seen it before.
Also sorry for typos, part of that is because I am not great at spelling and part of that is because half of these words aren’t recognized as being actual words, so they’d get autocorrected. The new words also made autocorrect assume that simple words were actually supposed to be bigger, smarter words, despite being spelt correctly
Also I am taking a long break from spider facts, maybe in two weeks I’ll be fine or bored enough to continue
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