When Do Spiders Sleep?
WouterSpiders sleep in a variety of ways. Some rest upside down or with their legs tucked under their bodies. But the biggest difference between spiders and humans is that spiders do not experience REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.
Sleep is necessary for all animals, including spiders. It helps the body conserve energy. If the weather is cold or there is little food to eat, a spider may be forced to sleep. When a predator approaches, a sleeping spider can immediately resume activity. However, scientists have not yet studied spiders’ sleep patterns.
Researchers believe that the spider sleeps to lower its metabolic rate. The lower metabolic rate helps the body conserve energy. This helps to prepare for the upcoming day. At night, a spider’s body is more active.
Many spiders feed upside down and are suspended from trees or the ceiling. Web-building spiders wait for prey to enter their web. They use tons of energy to weave the web. As the days get shorter, the spider will retreat to their burrow.
There are a few things that a sleeping spider cannot do. Like human sleep, spiders do not close their eyes. So when a spider dreams, it is not of flies on a web. Also, the eyes of a spider do not rotate in the eye socket. That is because each layer of cells in the spider’s eye provides a different type of vision.
Another way that spiders sleep is by playing dead. This is the logical next step after they have lowered their metabolic rate.
