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  • In Some Countries, People Decorate Their Christmas Trees With Spiders

    Forget the reindeer decorations — folks in some parts of the world adorn their Christmas trees with spider ornaments, instead. The unusual arachnid ornaments are part of a centuries-old Eastern European Christmas tradition. The legend of the Christmas spider is believed to have originated in Ukraine, and according to Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, […] More

  • Giant Spider Webs Blanketed This Beach Town in Greece

    A large network of spider webs stretching over half a mile is blanketing a Greek lake and surrounding city, making it look like something out of an arachnophobe’s nightmare. Local photographer Giannis Giannakopoulos recently took to Facebook to share some amazing images of the dense webs, which house hordes of spiders and cover an alarming […] More

  • These Spiders Pretend to Be Ants to Avoid Being Eaten

    New research reveals how a certain group of jumping spiders mimic ants to avoid being eaten. Small spiders are generally a much easier meal for predators than an army of aggressive ants armed with strong jaws, painful stings and their formic acid defense mechanisms. Spiders, despite their reputation, are actually quite vulnerable to predators — their […] More

  • Giant Spider Dines on the Heaviest Insects on Earth

    Want to meet a spider so large it eats the heaviest insects on earth for breakfast? Head to New Zealand. The Rangatira spider (Dolomedes schauinslandi) is a colossal arachnid found only on three relatively undisturbed islands of New Zealand – and it eats giant wētā for dinner. It’s a whopper and it eats wētā. The […] More

  • Some Spiders Can “Fly” Over the Ocean

    We hate to break it to you arachnophobes, but some species of spider can fly. Not with wings, of course (that would be weird). Instead, the tiny arachnids take to the air using a genius technique called ballooning. How does it work? First, to prepare for lift-off, the spiders anchor themselves to a structure for […] More

  • These Spiders Hunt Fish Underwater

    Researchers have identified 23 new species of semi-aquatic spiders lurking near Australia’s streams and rivers. Queensland Museum arachnologist Dr. Robert Raven, who led the research, described the spiders as being capable of running on water, diving, and swimming — some even remaining underwater for up to an hour to hunt. “I found a spider that hunts […] More

  • Male Brown Widows Prefer Sexual Partners That Are More Likely to Cannibalize Them

    Male brown widow spiders seem to have a death wish: they prefer mating partners that are more likely to cannibalize them, an unusual study recently revealed. When given the choice, males gravitate towards older, less fertile females who are 50 percent more likely than younger females to eat them after mating. What’s even more baffling […] More

  • These Spiders Attack with World’s Fastest Spin

    Best of luck to any insect trying to sneak past this spider. This eight-legged predator will have its meal in the blink of an eye. Actually, less. According to a study in the Journal of Experimental Biology, “flattie spiders” from the family Selenopidae can use their long legs to spin around nearly three times faster than the human eye can […] More

  • How Deep-Fried Tarantulas Became a Cambodian Delicacy

    If you want to eat like a local in Cambodia, you’d better not be squeamish. Deep fried tarantulas are sold by the dozens from roadside stands in cities like Phnom Penh. It’s not unusual to see photos or videos on social media posted by Western tourists who’ve dared to eat a bug. In some Asian […] More

  • This Spider Barfs Up Her Liquified Intestines to Feed Her Kids

    If this spider isn’t the mother of the year, we’re not sure who is. The Stegodyphus lineatus spider, which lives in the Negev Desert of Israel, really gives her kids everything she’s got. In fact, she lets them eat her — very, very slowly. But let’s back up a moment. Each spring, when insects in the desert […] More

  • Australian Female Jumping Spiders Only Mate Once in Their Lifetime

    It seems the first time’s the charm for the female Australian jumping spider. A recent study by Vivian Mendez and her colleagues at Macquarie University, Australia, found that most female Servaea incana spiders only mate once in their lifetime, after which they become unwilling or even aggressive toward males who try to mate with them. The researchers examined the […] More

  • Sailing Spiders Have Amazing Water-Navigation Abilities

    Spiders are often one of the first species to colonize new habitats, and many species are found in multiple locations — including multiple continents. In other words, spiders get around. Scientists as far back as Charles Darwin have studied an intriguing mode of spider transportation: ballooning, or floating through the air on a thin strand […] More

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