Ten Fun Spider Facts

The number of people who are not frightened of spiders is few and far between. Six Brothers Pest Control is the exception. Their technicians are very comfortable around spiders. Despite what most people think, spiders really are our friends.

The staff of Six Brothers Pest Control is so comfortable with spiders; they have come up with a list of fun facts for you to enjoy:

1. Spiders are not insects. Insects have 6 legs and antennas; spiders have eight legs and no antennas. Spiders are referred to as arachnids. They are grouped with ticks, scorpions, and mites. Spiders are the only animal that uses a web specifically to capture their prey. The abandoned webs are commonly called cobwebs.
2. There are 40,000 different species of spiders on the planet. The smallest is Patu Digua, found in Columbia. Scientists found locating and measuring it difficult. It is only one-fifth the size of the head of a pin. The largest is not the tarantula but a Huntsman Spider. Measuring leg span, these spiders are the size of a dinner plate. (12 in) A Huntsman spider that large is very rare and lives in rainforests around the world. They are terribly shy and generally run when disturbed. https://www.livescience.com/41428-huntsman-spider.html
3. The Goliath Bird Eating Spider doesn’t eat birds. The name was derived from artwork from the 1800s that showed this spider eating a bird. Scientists insist bird-eating is extremely rare. The Goliath Bird Eating Spider is the heaviest, weighing in at just over 6 ounces. They are the largest of the tarantula family.
4. Spiders live on every continent except Antarctica. Arachnids cannot survive in extreme cold.
5. Researchers think in every acre of land, there are one million spiders. In the rainforests, more the 3 million spiders live in the same measure of property. The number of spiders is so great that humans are never more than 10 feet away from one at any given time. If the population of spiders exceeds that, call Six Brothers Pest Control.
6. The silk in a spider’s web is surprisingly strong. It is five times stronger than steel of the same width. Most spider’s web can withstand the wind from a category one hurricane, 75 miles an hour. The Darwin Bark Spider forms the strongest material by a living organism. Their gargantuan webs stretch across rivers and streams. Research shows this spider’s web is 10 times stronger than Kevlar, the material used in making bulletproof vests. If a spider could make enough webbing to circle the earth, it would weigh just over a pound. The United States Defense Department is so intrigued with the strength of the orb-weaver spider’s web that they are trying to duplicate it for bulletproof vests.
7. Most spiders live about a year. Since making them pets, it has been found that a tarantula can live up to 20 years.
8. Researchers discovered that when spiders are given various drugs, their webs turn out very differently. A spider who was given LSD created beautiful webs. Another spider given caffeine spun terrible looking webs. It is thought spiders, by their webs, can detect chemicals in the air.
9. The petite jumping spider can jump forty times its own length. If a human could catapult themselves that far, they would be able to jump 230 feet. Two different species of jumping spiders were discovered at 23,000 feet. No vegetation grows at the elevation, but winds carry small bits of plant life up that high. Sufficient enough to keep the spiders fed.
10. As frightening as they might be, spiders play a significant part in the ecosystem. They consume pests in our gardens, pollinate plants, and reprocess dead animals and return them to the soil. Spiders are a significant source of food for birds, fish, and smaller mammals.
11. (Bonus) The Spricket earned it’s nickname because people thought it was half-spider half-cricket! You can read more about that here.

Six Brothers Pest Control wants to encourage its current and future customers not to make snap judgments about spiders. If there are just a few in your house, let them go about their business. However, if they are everywhere, that is the time to call Six Brothers Pest Control. We aren’t afraid of spiders but, we will take care of them.