But like insects they are arthropods related to crabs, lobsters, shrimp and others. But a male spider uses its pedipalps, which look a little like miniature boxing gloves, in courtship “dances” and to insert sperm into the female’s body during copulation.įinally, spiders are not “bugs” nor are they insects. They are sensory devices, perhaps like our tongue or the antennae of insects. There are two of these appendages positioned just outside the fangs. The size and arrangement of a spider’s eyes are keys to its identity.Īnother unique anatomical feature are a spider’s pedipalps. “Spinnerets, fangs and eight legs” would be a good answer to the question, “What is a spider?” For another special characteristic, we can simply look into the spider’s eyes. Many spiders, especially young ones, or “spiderlings,” are capable of “ballooning.” A ballooning spider extends a long line of silk that enables it to be carried aloft on winds that can transport the spider to places many miles away.
Some spiders use “drag lines,” for example, to drop down from a ceiling or a leaf. Different spiders use silk in different ways: for webs or retreats, to subdue and wrap prey, to line their nests and nurseries, and to form egg sacs. Spider silk is the strongest fiber in nature, five times stronger than steel, yet 30 times thinner than human hair. Other species wait for prey to become entangled in webs they construct of silk produced from spinnerets located on the end of the abdomen. Many species lie in ambush, hidden in cracks, crevices and holes, or camouflaged on vegetation, waiting to strike at insects that venture too close. Others claim that fear of spiders comes to us because spiders are simply “creepy.” It’s true that many spiders creep along on their eight legs in search of prey that consists of insects and other arthropods including spiders. And spiders are rarely aggressive toward humans they bite only in self defense. Fewer still are the number of species capable of producing bites with complications more severe than the average mosquito bite or bee sting. While virtually all spiders use their fangs to inject venom, the fangs of many of the more than 3,500 spider species in the United States are incapable of penetrating human skin. Yet there are a couple of problems with this theory.įirst, “arachnophobia” affects only a few of us – why not all of us? If spider bites can seriously harm or kill us, why don’t we all have an innate fear of spiders? This leads to another problem with attempts to justify the fear of spiders: On the whole, spiders just aren’t that dangerous. It’s been suggested that because some spider bites may have resulted in negative consequences for our prehistoric ancestors, that fearing spiders is adaptive, as it helps us avoid debilitating consequences. Of course, most of the negative publicity spiders receive is undeserved. Fear of spiders ranks as one of our greatest phobias, along with fears of snakes, heights and public speaking. It can be said that no other “bug” generates as much fear as the spider.
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