How Do Spiders Taste Their Food?

When we think of spiders, we often think of them as carnivores, and we often wonder how do spiders taste their food. There are some spiders that are strict vegetarians, but many other spiders will eat dead animals in the wild, or take dead insects in captivity.

One way that spiders taste their food is by swallowing prey. Some species of spiders use chelicerae to suck food, while others use a straw-like mouth. Spiders also drink from water droplets that fall on their webs.

Many spiders have special sensory organs on their legs, called pedipalps. These organs help the spider to sense whether a piece of food is good or bad. The pedipalps are shorter than the legs, and are protected by body armor. They also have a chemical detector that helps the spider to detect if the food is edible.

Another method that spiders use to taste their food is to suck digestive juices into the food. Spiders can smell and hear through tiny hairs on their legs. A new study shows that more than 60 species of spiders have this eating behavior.

Other spiders eat pollen, honeydew, and shed exoskeletons. In fact, some social spiders scavenge the dead bodies of other colony members.

While spiders don’t have a tongue, they have a unique tarsi. It is made of chemosensitive hairs that are used to taste food.

The tarsi also has sensory organs to detect if a food item is good or bad. Some spiders will push the mouthparts deep into flowers to reach nectar.