Seek & Destroy: Black Widow Spiders Are Being Actively Hunted by Brown Widows
New study shows brown widow spiders actively seek and kill nearby black widows. Black widow spiders have earned a fearsome reputation for their venomous bite….
Spiders News
“Astonishing” 500-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Brains Prompt a Rethink of the Evolution of Insects and Spiders
An ancient radiodont predator with three eyes reveals key information about the evolution of the arthropod body plan. New research based on a cache of…
Male Spiders Catapult off Their Mates To Avoid Sexual Cannibalism [High-Speed Video]
These male spiders catapult at impressive speeds to flee their mates before they get eaten. After males of the orb-weaving spider Philoponella prominens mate with…
Glowing Spider Fossils Prompt Breakthrough Research on Treasure Trove of Amazingly Well-Preserved Specimens
Glowing spider fossils prompt breakthrough study of how they were preserved at Aix-en-Provence. A geologic formation near Aix-en-Provence, France, is renowned as one of the…
Black Widow Neurotoxin: From Spider’s Venom to Medical Applications
Phobias are often irrational by nature – especially in the case of spiders, as these creatures are usually more afraid of humans than vice-versa. But:…
Spider Silk Is Supposed To Have “Healing Properties” – Scientists Debunk the Myth
As far back as ancient Rome, spider silk has been used as a remedy to treat everything from skin lesions to warts. In the past,…
Smartphone App Helps Tackle Fear of Spiders Using Augmented Reality
Researchers from the University of Basel have developed an augmented reality app for smartphones in order to help people reduce their fear of spiders. The…
Harvard Researchers Discover a New Real-Life Spidey Sense
Harvard study shows jumping spiders can distinguish living objects from non-living objects based on their movement. Add this to the list of real-life spidey senses:…
How Spiders Can Distinguish Living From Non-Living Objects in Their Peripheral Vision
Ability to identify other animals from relative positioning of the joints not unique to vertebrates. Jumping spiders can distinguish living from non-living objects in their…
Tarantula Toxin Attacks With Molecular Stinger – May Hold Answers to Better Control of Chronic Pain
Venom immobilizes prey by interfering with sodium channels that generate electrical signals in the animal’s nerve cells. Oversized, hairy tarantulas may be unsightly and venomous,…
Weird Spider Hair Discovery May Inspire Powerful – Yet Reversible – Adhesives
Engineers impressed by the functional great diversity of hairs on spider legs. Just how do spiders walk straight up — and even upside-down across —…
Plant-Based “Vegan Spider Silk” Provides Sustainable Alternative to Single-Use Plastics
Researchers have created a plant-based, sustainable, scalable material that could replace single-use plastics in many consumer products. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, created…
Noble False Widow Spider Bites Can Result in Severe Symptoms Requiring Hospitalization
NUI Galway study confirms that the Noble False Widow spider does have public health implications. The research team established a DNA database to allow clinicians…
Tarantula’s Pervasiveness Traced Back to the Cretaceous Period
Tarantulas are among the most notorious spiders, due in part to their size, vibrant colors, and prevalence throughout the world. But one thing most people…
MIT Scientists Translated the Structure of a Spider Web Into Music – Watch & Listen
Spiders are master builders, expertly weaving strands of silk into intricate 3D webs that serve as the spider’s home and hunting ground. If humans could…
Two Species, One Name: “Double Identity” Revealed in a Venomous Banana Spider
Spiders from the genus Phoneutria — also known as banana spiders — are considered aggressive and among the most venomous spiders in the world, with…
Arachnauts: NASA Sends Spiders to Space for Experimentation – Here’s What They Found
Humans have taken spiders into space more than once to study the importance of gravity to their web-building. What originally began as a somewhat unsuccessful…
False Widow Spider Bites Can Transmit Harmful Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
NUI Galway study, published in the international journal Scientific Reports, confirms that spiders carry harmful bacteria and that they can be transmitted when a spider…
