Spider Facts for Kids

Here we have the best spider facts for kids. Spiders are curious rather creepy creatures not only by their physical appearance but also by their unusual social behavior. Spiders are basically arthropods possessing eight legs and are known to kill their prey by injecting venom. They are one of the most diverse numbers of species—walk on almost every continent except Antarctica. Taxonomists have observed that there are more than 43,000 spiders living in the world.

Many spiders have four pairs of eyes.
Tarantulas have one of the heaviest and largest spiders in the world. It can be as long as 90 mm with the legspan of 250 mm.
Patu digua is the smallest spider in the world with the length measuring only 0.37 mm. It occurs in Columbia.
Unlike tarantulas having a lifespan of 20 years, almost all spiders live no more than 2 – 3 years.
Goliath bird-eating spider is the largest spider in the world. It reaches a body length of 4.6 cm. It is generally a cave-dweller spider.
Spiders are not insects as they have eight legs while insects have six legs. Some other creatures that fall in this group are termites, scorpions and mites.
Spiders are expert in producing a web which is very strong and useful to entrap their prey.
Raft spider is the only species that can walk on water.
Spiders can’t hear as they do not have ears but they do sense sound with the help of their hairy legs.
Certain species spit on their victim to kill them.
Spiders are capable to jump as much as 50 times their body length.
They have only two body parts—head and abdomen.
Bell spider is the only spider species that lives underwater all his life. It breathes by producing air-bubbles that goes to the surface.
Tarantulas can live for two years without eating anything.
Spiders are very short sighted and they rely on their hairy legs to detect any nearby threat.
Spiders are almost entirely nocturnal as they show up at dusk or in dark.
All spiders are venomous except the family Uloboridae.

What Do Spiders Eat

While spiders are primarily considered as predatory creatures they sometimes get food from plants material. For example Bagheera kiplingi is a jumping spider that relies on acacia for food consumption.
Few others such as Anyphaenidae, Clubionidae, Salticidae, Corinnidae, and Thomisidae feed on nectar. These species fancy drinking sugary water instead of plain water.
In captivity, many spiders like to feed on milk, banana, egg yolk, marmalade, and sausages.
Spiders are active hunters and predators. Many of them prey insects and invertebrates.
Spiders have poor digestive system which is why they have to turn their prey into a liquid form before actually eating it.
All spiders produce silk but not all spiders spin webs. Wolf spiders do not hunt by spinning their webs instead they stealth to surprise their kill.

Social Behavior

Many spiders use camouflaging ability to run off potential predators including birds and wasps.
They change their colors in respect to the background so that it deceives its predators.
Few spiders that produce webs to live in are found in large colonies though these colonies are not as large and complex as those of insects.
Those belong to the family of Theridiidae are often found in colonies comprising 50,000 individuals.