How Spiders Catch Their Prey

Spiders are intelligent creatures and they are known for catching prey in a variety of ways. However, the methods for capturing prey vary greatly from species to species.

To catch prey, spiders use sticky webs, venom, and vibrations to locate their targets. The venom interferes with nerve-muscle impulse transmission and makes prey less responsive to stimuli. It also turns the insect’s gut into a liquid, immobilizing it.

Crab spiders wrap egg cases in webbing and use silk for other purposes. The African funnel-web spider shares a web with hundreds of spiders.

Other spiders capture their prey by using venom. A black widow spider waits for its venom to work before injecting the victim with it. Flower spiders suck liquefied internal tissues from their victims.

Some spiders, such as the ogre-faced spider, kill their prey by wrapping it in a web. The ogre-faced spider is able to snap up the prey by hanging upside down and holding the web wide open.

Social spiders synchronize their attacks to extend the length of their hunt. This can be accomplished by ejecting glue from the hind legs and by biting the prey. They need to act quickly to prevent the prey from escaping.

The University of Toulouse conducted a study on how spiders catch their prey. Researchers used video recording devices to watch spiders’ movements. When observing the spiders, they found that the amount of vibrations they felt corresponded with the length of time they paused in their movement towards their target.