Our Top 10 Interesting Spider Facts

Here at Southern Pest Control, we believe that the more you learn about spiders, the less you’ll fear them. Most spiders want nothing to do with us and just want to go about their day! We have dealt with many different spider species around the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and along the way, we’ve learned a lot about the quirks and habits of each. Read on for our ten favorite spider facts!

10 Facts About Spiders

1. Most spiders can’t hurt you: Although all spiders have venom that they use to kill their prey, most spiders don’t have enough venom to do any considerable harm to a human.
2. Spiders are all over: Research shows that you are likely no more than 10 feet away from the nearest spider at any point!
3. There are thousands of kinds of spiders: Over 35,000 have been documented across the globe. Spider experts expect to uncover many more species as the search for new spiders continues.
4. Spiders give presents: During the courtship process, the male spiders of some species will wrap a fly or other small insect in silk to give to a female as a gift. However, some spiders have been observed wrapping leaves or other junk to fake a gift!
5. Spiders can dance: Another element of some spiders’ courtship routines is a flashy dance to catch a female’s attention. Their dances often involve frantic scuttling and arm-waving.
6. Female spiders eat their mates sometimes: This can happen either before, during, or after copulation. Sometimes a female spider will kill a male for an unsatisfactory courtship attempt, and sometimes they will kill them after copulation to save their body for their offspring to eat.
7. Spider silk does many things: We often think of spider silk as the material they make their webs from, but different spider species also use their silk to build nests, tunnels, paths for transportation, and even as floats to glide through the air on.
8. Silk beats steel: We often think of spider webs as flimsy, but this is only because of the density of the webs that spiders spin. Spider silk is actually 5 times stronger than steel!
9. It’s a liquid: What’s even more impressive about the strength of spider silk is that it only becomes solidified when it comes in contact with air. It starts as a liquid in their spinning gland.
10. Spider muscles only retract: Spiders can only pull their legs back in, not extend them out with the same mechanism. To do so, they pump a special fluid through their legs. This fluid also enables them to jump great distances.

Spider Control Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast

While we hope that our spider facts have given you some reasons to change your mind about spiders, we understand that having a spider infestation can be stressful, no matter how harmless your spiders are. If you need help getting rid of spiders in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region, reach out to your local spider exterminators at Southern Pest Control. Contact us today for a free quote!