May 18th, 2018 by Chris Chapman

Spiders are fascinating creatures, and love them or hate them, there’s a lot you can learn about them! Studying spiders has given us a lot over the years, and they’re still helping scientists and medical researchers out to this day. We’ve put together a list of our 8 favourite facts about spiders for you to impress (or freak out) your friends and family.

1. Bad Reputation

Spiders aren't interested in you and won't bite you unless they're threatened Spiders have a bad reputation, but it’s not always fair. They’ll never bite humans unless they feel threatened, and the vast majority of spider species aren’t venomous anyway. Most spiders in the UK don’t even have sharp enough fangs to bite into your skin! Even the infamous false widow isn’t as bad as you might think – only the female false widow is venomous, and even then, they’re not actually deadly (although they can cause some nasty infections if you leave the bite untreated). Far more people are hurt after panicking when they see a spider than they are from spider bites themselves, so try not to freak out if you see one!

2. Blue-Blooded

Spiders have blue blood! In humans, oxygen attaches to a compound called haemoglobin, which contains iron. This is what gives our blood a red colour. In spiders, oxygen attaches to a compound called haemocyanin, which contains copper instead of iron. This means their blood is a pale blue colour!

3. Super Strong Silk

Pound-for-pound, spider silk is 5 times stronger than steel! If a spider could spin a web where each strand was as thick as a pencil, that web would be strong enough to stop a jumbo jet in mid-flight. Despite this, spider webs are still really elastic. This means it has incredible potential for use in construction and medicine, but so far scientists haven’t been able to figure out exactly how spider silk is so strong.

4. Miracle Medicine

Spider silk is incredibly strong, yet elastic and flexible Spider webs were used in ancient times to help heal wounds! The proteins and vitamins in spider webs actually encourage blood to clot over a cut and it’ll help you heal up faster. As long as the spider web is clean and free of insects, you can try this out yourself. If you’re unlucky enough to get a small cut, cover it with a ball of clean spider web and use a plaster or bandage to hold it in place. Spider silk is also the basis for Spidrex, an experimental implant used to replace cartilage in knee replacement surgeries. Silk also has potential uses in brain surgery, nerve repair, and skin grafts for burn victims – there’s so much we can use it for!

5. Toothless

Spiders have fangs, but they don’t have teeth. Their fangs are used for injecting their prey with digestive juices, which will dissolve the unfortunate victim from the inside out! The spider can then suck up their meal without the need for chewing.

6. The Camera Adds 10 Pounds

CCTV cameras make good homes for spiders - spray the with spider repellent to keep them clear Spiders aren’t usually a danger to humans, but that doesn’t mean they’re not a nuisance at times. Spiders like high, sheltered places where they can easily spin a web. This means they’ll often find a home on CCTV cameras and burglar alarms! A spider building a web over a camera lens will completely obscure any security footage. They can also trigger burglar alarms by crawling over the motion sensor, which fools the alarm into thinking there’s activity in the room. It’s wise to treat all cameras and security systems with some spider repellent, especially in the autumn months when spiders like to move indoors to escape the cooler weather.

7. Blind as a Spider

Most people know that spiders have 8 eyes. Despite this, they actually have terrible eyesight! They rely on vibrations in their webs to transmit information to them. To help with this, spiders can “tune” their webs to vibrate at different frequencies like a guitar string. This means spiders can build different webs for different purposes and conditions, depending on whether they’re hunting or nesting, and on whether the conditions are dry or humid. This is also why they often aren’t fooled by people throwing sticks or touching webs to lure a spider out. They can usually tell the difference between you and a potential meal because of the way their web vibrates, so don’t try and trick them! If you want to lure a spider into the open, it’s much more effective to use some spider repellent to shift it.

8. Family Values

Female spiders look after other spiderlings as well as their own If you’re a mother, you might think you have it rough at times. However, you should spare a thought for spider mothers, who have to offer themselves up to be eaten by their children! It sounds grisly, but the female spiders are happy to do it. Many female spiders have longer lifespans than males, so a lot won’t get the chance to mate as they mature more slowly. Even if a female spider doesn’t mate, she’ll still care for her sister’s offspring as if they were her own, and that means, when the time comes, allowing herself to be eaten! This happens because of the way spiders raise their young (known as spiderlings). Females feed their children (and the children of other spiders) by producing a nutritional fluid that the spiderlings can suck up. Eventually, this process drains the female spider so much that she starts to break down and liquify, at which point she offers herself up as a buffet. Meanwhile, male spiders are off mating for the rest of their lifespan. Now that’s just not fair!