Can You Eat Spiders to Survive?
WouterIf you are ever wondering if you can eat spiders to survive, you’re not alone. Some cultures enjoy eating the insects as a treat. The Thai zebra spider, for example, is a common food source. In Cambodia, fried tarantulas are considered a delicacy.
Spiders are known for sucking the juices from their prey. They also inject poison to paralyze the target. Although spiders are primarily carnivores, some suck plant sap, seeds, and fungal spores.
Researchers estimate that spiders eat 400 million to 800 million tons of invertebrates every year. This amounts to nearly one-third of all human consumption. Moreover, some species eat birds and small mammals.
A new study from the Journal of the Science of Nature suggests that some arachnids are veggie-eaters. According to the researchers, more than 60 species of spiders are reported to consume plant material.
In the study, scientists looked at the average food consumption of spiders from different sizes. While many smaller spiders only need occasional meals, larger ones can go more than two months without food.
Spiders have low metabolisms, but they still have the energy to do their job. They also recycle proteins from their old webs. These methods of metabolic efficiency explain why spiders can withstand long periods of starvation.
The study also found that some spiders are vegetarian. However, they have not yet been able to find any strict vegetarian spiders.
The most popular edible spider is the Thai zebra spider. Its venomous fangs can be ripped off by the Thai Marines.
