How Much Do Spiders Have to Eat?
WouterIn 1947, British arachnologist estimated that there were approximately 2.2 trillion spiders living in England and Wales. The estimate compared to a worldwide prey kill of 400-800 million tons of insect, invertebrate, and omnivores annually implies that spiders exert substantial predation pressure on insect populations.
There are thousands of species of spiders found around the world. These spiders vary greatly in their feeding habits. Some hunt, while others prefer to stay still. The size of the spider and its stage of development also determine the type of food it consumes.
Most species of spiders eat insects. Some species eat pollen, nectar, seeds, or dead arthropods. A few species can survive a long time without eating. They can also absorb moisture from the air and drink water.
In addition to eating, spiders are opportunistic feeders. They will catch other insects, such as mosquitoes and wasps, in their webs. They also eat dead animals, such as frogs.
Spiders have been shown to eat anywhere from 300 to 800 million metric tons of insects, invertebrates, and omnivores each year. Researchers estimate this by calculating the number of insects that spiders catch in their webs, and then extrapolating that to the size of the population of the spiders.
The spiders’ food consumption exceeds the amount of meat that humans eat each year. In fact, humans consume about 400 million tons of meat, fish, and other animal products each year.
Spiders eat about the same amount of food that all whale species eat in the oceans. In other words, they eat more than the world’s seabird population, which eats 70 million tons of fish.
