What do Spiders Eat

Spiders are carnivorous arachnids that have eight legs. There are many people who suffer from arachnophobia and feel creepy crawlies over their skin the minute they spot a spider. They are the favorite insects of Garfield, the lazy cat that loves to swat them with newspapers. Many spiders are venomous and a bite may be fatal (or turn you into Spiderman!). Have you ever wondered what do spiders eat? Let's know more about the amazing spiders.

Amazing Spiders
There are over 40,000 species of spiders and 109 recorded families of spiders. Their body is fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax and abdomen. It is joined together by a small, cylindrical pedicel. There is an old story that spiders got their scientific name "Arachnid" from Greek mythology. According to legends, there was a girl in Greece named Arachne who could weave beautifully. Her talent became famous far and wide and Athena, the Greek goddess, got jealous of her fame. She turned her into a spider and thus the name Arachnid came into existence.

The baby spiders are called spiderlings and they are born from eggs. These eggs are kept in an egg sack. As one spiderling comes out of the egg, it shoots out a silk strand. This strand helps in floating away the baby spider. The spiderlings can hide from their predators as they have no color at all, thus making them nearly invisible.

The spiders weave silk webs that is known to be tougher than steel, elastic in nature and waterproof. The thread of a spiders silk is similar to the thickness of a pencil. A spiders silk is so strong that is can even stop a Boeing 747 in its path.

What do they Eat
Spiders are carnivorous and prey on flying insects. Spiders eat flies, wasps, butterflies, dragon flies, etc. They trap the insects in their sticky web and devour them. Baby spiders eat plant nectar. Many people often wonder what do house spiders eat? House spiders feed on house insects, silver fish insects, mosquitoes, stray insects and even their own kind!

There are some people who wonder what do wolf spiders eat? Wolf spiders are hairy, swift like a barracuda and reach the size of a tarantula. It preys on earwigs, ants, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches and other spiders. Spiders never shew their food. They bite and inject venom in the body of their victim that paralysis or kills it. Then the venom inside the body liquefies the insides of the insects. While the venom is liquidizing the insect, the spider wraps the body in silk. Then the spider drinks the mushy liquid or leaves the silk bundle for a later snack time.

The spider venom is not strong enough to cause any damage to humans. But there are two spider species, Black Widow spider and Brown Recluse spider, that contain venom powerful enough to kill a human. Larger species of spiders like tarantula eat lizards, frogs and toads. They are even known to eat small mammals and birds. There are some species of spiders that are vegetarian and feed on acacia trees. Some spiders that have been brought up in captivity have been recorded to eat egg yolk, bananas, marmalade, etc.

Facts About Spiders

• Spiders mostly bite humans only in self-defense.
• Tarantulas are a delicacy in Cambodia.
• Spiders can live for 2 years maximum. But captivity bred tarantulas are known to live up to 25 years.
• Spiders are placed in the same group with scorpions and ticks
• Female redback spiders are known to eat male redback spiders.

This was some information on spiders, what do they eat and facts about spiders. I hope this article has helped answer your question, what do spiders eat. Spiders are very important for our ecosystem. Without spiders, our gardens and homes will be teeming with insects. Pest would damage our crops and flies would have hovered all over. Thus, the next time you see a house spider or garden spider, thick twice before stamping over it.