How a spider catches its prey

You are probably used to eating three meals a day, and you may even have an afternoon snack. Imagine that, instead of going to the grocery store to get food, you laid very still on a big web waiting for some food to come by. That's how many spiders catch their food, and sometimes they have to wait for days before they catch their favorite food: insects.

Spiders are cold-blooded, which means their body temperature changes with the weather. When it's cold and insects are hard to come by, they can save energy by staying very still. Humans, on the other hand, are warm-blooded. Our body temperature stays about the same no matter the weather, and we need to eat daily to keep up our energy.

In addition to eating insects such as ants, flies, mosquitoes, and bees, some spiders will also eat very small animals like birds, frogs, lizards, and centipedes. many will also eat other spiders! But, spiders can be picky eaters. They only eat animals that are alive or that they have recently killed, and they typically do not eat plant material.  Since they only eat meat, they are called carnivores.

All of these webs are designed to catch food. Since spiders do not have great eyesight, they usually use the vibrations of the web strands to locate their prey. When they do, they rush on over and wrap their victim in silk, turning it around and around until it is covered.

Then the spider pokes its fangs into the insect and shoots poison into it, which turns its guts into liquid, the spider then sucks out the liquid.  Yuck!

Spiders that build the circular webs that we, in Canada, usually find in our yards are called Orb-Web spiders.  These webs look like bike wheels and are very sticky.  These are the webs that trap insects for food.  Many of these spiders will build new webs every night.  Others will just keep repairing their damaged webs.  The spider will sit near the center of the web and wait for insects to land on the web.

Another type of web is the sheet-web.  This web is spun horizontally and has special non-sticky lines above it.  These lines knock insects down onto the sheet-web where they get stuck.


Some other spiders spin funnel-webs.  These webs are shaped like…you guessed it…funnels.  They are wide at the top and get narrower as they go down.  The spider hides at the bottom of this web waiting for its prey.

Jumping Spiders

Many of us are uncomfortable when a spider makes its way into our home. We can at least take comfort that they cannot jump or fly right onto us. Unfortunately, though, this assumption is not true, and many spiders have the ability to jump great distances compared to their body size. Jumping spiders range from just 2 to 22 millimeters and are defined by their jumping abilities. They are often brightly colored, and many of the 5,000 species make a home in the tropics.

However, some have a more extreme view of what home should be. The Himalayan jumping spider lives at altitudes of up to 22,000 feet. The oxygen content at that altitude is less than half of what it is at sea level, and few organisms can survive the extreme conditions. This tiny spider relies on winds to blow them insects from lower altitudes.

Many people enjoy the bright colors of peacocks. Their iridescent green feathers and elaborate patterns have been a source of inspiration for many. But peacocks aren't the only ones with bright colors. The peacock jumping spider is actually quite beautiful and far from its drab brown cousins, even though it is slightly smaller than a thumbtack. With striking colors in all shades of blue, red, yellow, green and everything in between, male peacock spiders are a sight to behold.