6 Unbelievable Things Spiders Can Do

What unbelievable things can spiders do?

1. Spiders are incapable of digesting solid foods
2. Not all spiders can spin webs
3. Male spiders are at risk of being eaten by their female mates
4. Spiders can swim
5. Spiders use decoys to scare off predators
6. Spiders are capable of exterminating mosquitoes

 

Pest control is the best way to get rid of house pests such as roaches, rodents, and others that can cause unlikely damages to your home. But aside from this, did you know that there are good pests that can help exterminate the bad ones?

Enter: Spiders

Spiders are eight-legged creatures that can help you manage household pests. They’re a great company considering the help that they contribute to your pest control. To know them further, here’s a list of unbelievable things that spiders are capable of doing.

Note: They’re creepy but tolerable.

 

Spiders are incapable of digesting solid foods

Yes, spiders can bite its prey. But it can’t digest solid food unlike particular animals. Basically, before they eat their prey, they turn them first into liquid forms. How? First, the spider releases digestive enzymes from itself and then into the prey’s body. As the enzymes break down the tissues of the prey, it then draws the liquefied tissues and the digestive enzymes. Similar to humans, it also absorbs the nutrients it gets from its meal.

 

Not all spiders spin webs

While webs are a common indication of a spider’s presence, there are still spiders that don’t spin webs. Yes, that’s true.

An example of this is the wolf spider and the jumping spider. Wolf spiders only stalk and overtake its prey without a web. Jumping spiders, on the other hand, move quickly and uses its relatively good eyesight to capture its prey. Both of these species do not need to spin a web.

 

Male spiders are at risk of being eaten by their female mates

Regardless of being one’s suitor, a male spider can still be considered a meal by its female counterpart. This is mainly because the female spiders are larger (hence, more capable) and are hungry (at the time of the mating).

So how do the males prevent this from occurring?

Surprisingly, the males use courtship rituals to introduce themselves as suitors and not food. For an instance, a jumping spider tends to perform extravagant dances from a safe distance before approaching the female. This is to know whether the female spider approves or not. Some species, on the other hand, such that of male orb weavers, tend to position themselves from the outer edge of the female’s web and pluck a thread to send a vibration. If the female spider approves, that’s when the male counterpart approaches her.

 

Spiders can swim

While spiders are commonly known to spin webs on your ceilings and corners, they are also capable of swimming. Well, diving bell spiders are.

This type of spiders could stay underwater for at least a day. How so? Basically, these spiders spin a web to use as a container. This, then, serves as storage for the air bubbles it drags down from the surface.

However, similar to humans, their stored oxygen runs out at a particular time. As such, they move into the surface and collect more to store in their container.

 

Spiders use decoys to scare their predators

Like how humans use scarecrows, spiders use decoys to scare off their predators and protect their welfare.

Essentially, they work on webs and spin them off in the image of their own; some would similarly resemble their size or it could also be a larger version of themselves. Claims say that a scientist even saw a spider shaking its decoy to effectively look real to its predator.

Fortunately, this act works for them.

 

Spiders are capable of exterminating mosquitoes

As already mentioned above, spiders are good pests. Don’t believe it? Then, you might want to read about this evidence from Pakistan back in the year 2011.

The monsoon season that year brought in floods affecting not only people, but also the animal kingdom. Fortunately, spiders found a way to survive by seeking refuge amongst trees. It was there where they established a home. Their webs gave the trees a ghostly appearance, thus the name: The Ghost Trees of Pakistan. But more than that, what the spiders contributed hugely to the place is the reduction of the number of mosquitoes at the time.

Wouldn’t you say that this was a remarkable example of pest control?

 

Key Takeaway

As you can see, spiders are not all that bad. These critters surely have interesting skill sets for you to learn about. Plus, they also help out with exterminating other more dangerous pests, such as the mosquitoes.

Did you have fun knowing about spiders? If you have more to share, please let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!