Spiders have been the earth’s most common land predator for over 400 million years.
New research
A healthy spider population helps control mosquitoes and other insects. From the graph above, it’s easy to see that spiders contribute to healthy ecosystems.
Forest and grassland spiders do most of the heavy work.
Scientists believe that spider silk may be the strongest material in the world. To date, no one has been able to replicate it.
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Resources:
BugGuide – Salticidae Colonus Hesperus
Kidzone – Specialty Spiders
National Geographic – Eating Insects?! – Bug Chef
Reuters – Mercury in the Food Web
Science Alert – How Much Spiders Eat
Science Friday – Food Webs, Ecological Importance of Spiders
Springer.com – An estimated 400 – 800 tons of prey are killed annually by the global spider community
UC Davis – Bohart Museum of Entomology
Wikipedia – Arachnid
