Spider
Air-breathing arthropods with eight limbs, venomous fangs, and silk-spinning spinnerets.
Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat.
- Type
- Enemy / Collectible Source
- Common Franchises
- Resident Evil, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda
- Typical Behavior
- Aggressive melee attack or venomous bite
- Loot Potential
- Spider Parts, Venom sacs, Silk
- Weakness
- Fire-based attacks or ranged weapons
Lore & Background
Spider-like arachnids with silk-producing spigots (Uraraneida) appeared in the Devonian period, but these animals apparently lacked spinnerets. True spiders have been found in Carboniferous rocks and are very similar to the most primitive surviving suborder, the Mesothelae. The main groups of modern spiders, Mygalomorphae and Araneomorphae, first appeared in the Triassic period. Spiders have become common symbols in art and mythology, symbolizing various combinations of patience, cruelty and creative powers.
In Their Own Story
The dim light of the flashlight flickered against the damp walls of the containment wing. A skittering sound echoed from the ceiling, growing louder with every second. Suddenly, a massive silhouette dropped down, its multiple eyes reflecting the beam before it lunged. The protagonist rolled aside just in time, hearing the wet thud of chelicerae striking the metal floor where they had stood moments ago. In this world, even the smallest things had become monsters.
Reader's Guide
Spiders are predators, mostly preying on insects and other spiders, although a few large species also take birds and lizards. They use numerous strategies to capture prey: trapping it in sticky webs, lassoing it with sticky bolas, mimicking the prey to avoid detection, or running it down. Most detect prey mainly by sensing vibrations, but active hunters have acute vision. Spiders liquefy their food by flooding it with digestive enzymes and grind food with the bases of their pedipalps. To avoid being eaten by females, males identify themselves as potential mates by complex courtship rituals. Females weave silk egg cases, each of which may contain hundreds of eggs, and many species care for their young. A minority of species are social, building communal webs that may house from a few to 50,000 individuals.
Did You Know?
- Spiders have no extensor muscles in their limbs and instead extend them by hydraulic pressure.
- Unlike insects, spiders do not have antennae.
- The species Bagheera kiplingi was described as herbivorous in 2008, but all other known species are predators.
- An estimated 25 million tons of spiders kill 400–800 million tons of prey every year.
- Tarantulas and other mygalomorph spiders can live for over 20 years.
More in Tools & Collectibles
Elsewhere in the Inside universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record