Eight-legged arachnids with fangs that inject venom and spinnerets that make silk. With more than 53,000 species, they’re found in nearly every land habitat on every continent except Antarctica.
This entry covers a whole group, so the answers describe a typical member. For a specific one, see Tarantula, Black widow, Peacock spider.
Quick answers
What is it?Arachnid
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?Can be
Most bites are no worse than a bee sting, but a few spiders are dangerous, such as widow spiders, recluses and the Australian funnel-webs.
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Night
Many spiders are nocturnal.
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?Sometimes
Do people eat it?In places
Cooked tarantulas are a delicacy in Cambodia.
At a glance
Found inWorldwide
HabitatForest, Grassland, Towns, Desert
ColoursBlack, Brown
SizeTiny
LengthUnder 0.37 mm (Patu digua) upward
Legs8
Covered inExoskeleton
Lives alone
Lives for1–20 years
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Every continent except Antarctica, in nearly every land habitat.
- What it eats
- Predators, mostly of insects, which they liquefy with digestive enzymes. One species, Bagheera kiplingi, is mostly vegetarian.
Did you know
Its silk is about as strong as nylon, but far stretchier.
Most spiders live two years at most, but tarantulas can live over 20.
Often confused with
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