Spiders are believed to have spent 300 million years sharpening their skills as well as staying alive and giving rise to new generations of spiderlings. They have emerged some 100 million years ago, an era predating back-boned animals; they have also evolved much more rapidly. Spiders are classed with arthropods. Almost all the species in arthropods have joint legs and their external armor is hard and tough. Perhaps you’d be wondering as to how long do spiders live. Stick to the end and you’ll know what you want! Spiders alone claim the order Araneae. Currently, scientists have successfully found 38,000 species of spiders all round the world. It is still considered to be the tip of an ice berg since equal numbers of spiders are believed as undiscovered. The widespread presence of spiders makes them a popular species; they are found in house, gardens, forests, other terrestrial habitats, and caves round the world. The South American Tarantulas, also called bird-eating spider, is the largest spider species averaging 10 cm in length, with a leg span of up to 27 cm. The smallest spiders rarely exceed one millimeter in length when adult. However, all these species are predators but not all of them use venom to kill its prey.
How Long Do Spiders Live in Captivity
Depending entirely on species, the spiders lifespan differs significantly; some species can only live up to few months while others have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years. Many spiders are known to survive up to one or two years only. The lifespan of spiders should not be associated with its size since there are many larger species including golden orb-web spiders and striped garden spiders that do not live more than a year. The tropical tent-web spiders have a relatively longer lifespan. One of the larger spiders is Velvet spider that can live up to 5 years in captivity; while community nest spiders do not have that much longer lifespan. Similarly, fishing spiders have a lifespan of less than a year; rain spiders can live up to 2 – 3 years; while captive six-eyed sand spider is known to live up to 8 years in captivity.
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Longest-Lived Spiders | How Long Do Spiders Live
Theraphosids (tarantulas and baboon spiders) are the longest lived spiders having a lifespan of more than 20 years in captivity. Unsurprisingly, all these longest lived spiders are females as males have shorter lifespans—after reaching maturity (within a year or two) they mate and die. Nevertheless, spiders are not easy to handle in captivity. If you’re planning to raise spiders in captivity, then probably you’ll have to face three major problems; offering food and water, minimizing maintenance time, and avoiding cannibalism. The house spiders are known to live for several months without food and water.
Learn more: Spider Facts
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