Welcome back everyone! I hope you are ready for some more Creepy Crawly Halloween content, because boy, do I have a treat for you today. I don’t know about all of you, but when I think of Halloween, one of the main things that pops into my head are cobwebs covering every imaginable surface. They just lend themselves perfectly to spooky decor! In honor of my favorite spooky season decoration, we are going to learn about the artists behind the real deal: spiders! Go grab a nice warm mug of apple cider and let’s weave our way through the spectacular world of spiders.
First things first, the basics. Spiders are members of the arachnid family, which also includes scorpions, ticks, and mites. There are over 40,000 different species of spiders that have been identified and described by scientists around the world. Approximately 3,500 species of spiders call North America home. They come in a variety of different sizes, ranging from the Samoan moss spider at approximately 0.011 inches long at their smallest to the Goliath birdeater tarantula with an approximated leg span of 12 inches at their largest. Depending on species, their lifespan can range from under a year to 20+ years. In fact, the oldest known spider passed away in 2018 at the age of 43! While there is a large amount of variety in physical features between the thousands of species, there are a few things they all have in common. Every spider has 8 legs, two body segments (the cephalothorax and abdomen), and can have either six or eight eyes. They are all also carnivorous, meaning they eat meat, and venomous. While all of them are venomous, only a few are potentially dangerous to humans.
While the majority of humans are afraid of spiders (Myself included. I just really don’t like little critters with lots of legs. They freak me out. Don’t even get me started on ants! *visibly shivers*), the vast majority of them are completely harmless to humans and serve some super important roles in the ecosystem. The biggest thing they do that helps out humans is controlling insect populations. Without all the spiders eating the insects that like to eat our agricultural crops, our food supply would be in serious trouble. They also eat pest insects that drive us absolutely batty, like flies and gnats.
While spiders creep me out, I also think they are really cool. Some species do crazy mating dances, others create absolutely stunning webs, and I just think they’re neat. My absolute favorite spider fact is a little gross, but also really cool. Spiders can't really swallow their food as-is when they catch it. Because of this, they inject their prey with a digestive liquid, which in turn liquefies their preys’ insides, which they then suck out of the remaining exoskeleton. Like I said, a little gross, but also SO cool!
Thank you for learning with me! What is your favorite spider fact? Let me know below! If you enjoyed learning about spiders, make sure you tune in for our October Scientist Spotlight! Our October scientist studies spiders and their different behaviors and I can’t wait for you to meet her.
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