spider

Images, Videos & Interactives

Curtain web spider

Witness an orb-weaving spider using silk wrappings to immobilize grasshopper prey

Goliath bird-eating spider (Theraphosa blondi), a large brown tarantula, resting on rough, light-colored tree bark.

Illustration comparing the sizes of four spider species-the giant huntsman, goliath birdeater, joro spider, and ground wolf spider-shown as silhouettes next to an average adult male hand for scale, with a vertical ruler on the side for precise measurement.

A female joro spider (Trichonephila clavata) with a yellow and black striped abdomen sits at the center of her web, with a blurred green background.

Close-up of a golden wheel spider, crouched on sand with long pale legs spread wide.

A man sleeps with his mouth open on a bed, while a large spider sits on the pillow near his hand.

Watch a water spider create its underwater house

An adept predator

Black widow spider

At a Glance

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spider: Media

arachnid

Videos

Witness an orb-weaving spider using silk wrappings to immobilize grasshopper prey

Witness an orb-weaving spider using silk wrappings to immobilize grasshopper prey

A black-and-yellow argiope (Argiope aurantia) capturing a grasshopper in...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Close-up of a golden wheel spider, crouched on sand with long pale legs spread wide.

Watch a golden wheel spider cartwheel away

A golden wheel spider (Carparachne aureoflava) rolling down a sand dune...

Video: © Content Mint/Shutterstock; thumbnail © Ondrej Prosicky—iStock/Getty Images

A man sleeps with his mouth open on a bed, while a large spider sits on the pillow near his hand.

Do We Really Swallow Spiders in Our Sleep?

This myth is based on a web of lies.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Watch a water spider create its underwater house

Watch a water spider create its underwater house

A water spider (Argyroneta aquatica) building its diving bell. The spider...

Video: © Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou/Science Source

Know how some spiders walk on the surface of the water

Know how some spiders walk on the surface of the water

Learn how some spiders move across the surface of water.

Video: © Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Learn how scientists imitated specific spider fibers to better handle sticky nanofibers

Learn how scientists imitated specific spider fibers to better handle sticky nanofibers

Description of the use of spider combs.

Video: © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Mating dance

Mating dance

A male peacock spider (Maratus volans) performing his mating dance. His...

Video: crbellette—Creatas Video+/Getty Images

Behold the multitude of Amazonian arthropods including spiders, scorpions, beetles, and mantids

Behold the multitude of Amazonian arthropods including spiders, scorpions, beetles, and mantids

Among the arthropods of the Amazon Rainforest are spiders (including orb weavers...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A spider appears to run or gallop across the surface of water, shown in a grainy, high-contrast image.

How Do Some Spiders Walk on Water?

Some spiders seem to “gallop” across the surface of water.

Video: © Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Witness a spider building, devouring, and rebuilding a web

Witness a spider building, devouring, and rebuilding a web

Time-lapse video of a spider building a web, devouring it, and building a new one.

Video: Video by Neil Bromhall; music, Musopen String Quartet/Musopen.org (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Close-up of a spider with a yellow and black striped body sitting at the center of its web, with a blurred green background.

What Role Do Spiders Play in the Food Chain?

Spiders are the planet's top predators.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Study the complex structures of webs created by a Nephila senegalensis and garden spider

Study the complex structures of webs created by a Nephila senegalensis and garden spider

Learn about the web-spinning behavior of the spiders Nephila senegalensis...

Video: © Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Images

Curtain web spider

Curtain web spider

A curtain web spider (family Dipluridae) on its web.

© João Burini/Alamy

Goliath bird-eating spider (Theraphosa blondi), a large brown tarantula, resting on rough, light-colored tree bark.

Arachnid heavyweight

The goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi) is a species of tarantula and...

© asbtkb/stock.adobe.com

Illustration comparing the sizes of four spider species-the giant huntsman, goliath birdeater, joro spider, and ground wolf spider-shown as silhouettes next to an average adult male hand for scale, with a vertical ruler on the side for precise measurement.

Size comparison of four spider species

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A female joro spider (Trichonephila clavata) with a yellow and black striped abdomen sits at the center of her web, with a blurred green background.

Gentle giantess

A female joro spider (Trichonephila clavata) rests in her web. A small brown...

© Ivan Kokoulin/Dreamstime.com

An adept predator

An adept predator

A European garden spider (Araneus diadematus) catching a fly in her web.

© Catherine Falls Commercial—Moment/Getty Images

Black widow spider

Black widow spider

A female black widow spider with her egg sac.

U.S. National Park Service

Labeled diagram of a spider showing its external anatomy, including the cephalothorax, abdomen, eyes, legs, fangs, pedipalps, spinnerets, and other key body parts.

External organization of a spider

An illustration of the external organization of a spider.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Extreme close-up of the large, glossy eyes and hairy face of a female zebra jumping spider, Salticus scenicus, showing fine detail of the eyes and surrounding hairs.

Keen eyesight

A close-up of four of the eight eyes of a female zebra jumping spider (Salticus...

© Mario Čehulić/Dreamstime.com

Cross-sectional diagram of a spider's trichobothrium, showing a long tactile hair (seta) anchored in a socket. Labeled parts include the bothrium, membrane, helmet, nerve processes, and cylinder.

Sense organ: trichobothrium

The trichobothrium of a spider. These long fine leg hairs are sensitive to air currents...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Labeled cutaway diagram of a spider's internal anatomy, showing the brain, venom glands and ducts, sucking stomach, gut ceca, heart and aortae, digestive tract, book lungs, tracheae, silk glands, ovaries, spermatheca, spinnerets, and reproductive openings.

Spider anatomy

Internal organization of a spider.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Illustration showing a cross section of a spider's book lung, with layered lamellae for gas exchange, blood flow between the layers, and air entering through a spiracle opening.

Book lung

Diagrammatic section through a book lung.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Illustration of a Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus) showing its dark, glossy body and eight legs, with a size scale indicating a length of up to 5 centimeters or 2 inches.

Australian funnel-web spider

An illustration of the potentially deadly Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus).

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Patrick O'Neill Riley

Illustration of a redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti) showing a black body with a distinctive red stripe on its back, alongside a scale indicating its size of about 3 centimeters or 1 inch.

Redback spider

Illustration of a female redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti).

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Patrick O'Neill Riley

Illustration of a brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus) with long legs and a patterned brown body, shown from above. An inset displays the spider's underside, highlighting its ventral markings. A scale bar indicates its size, about 3 centimeters or 1 inch.

Brown widow spider

Illustration of a brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus).

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Patrick O'Neill Riley

Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robusta) with a shiny black body and thick legs, shown on rough brown bark in its natural habitat.

Australian funnel-web spider

Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robusta) one of the most deadly venomous...

© Image Created by James van den Broek—Moment/Getty Images

Garden spider

Garden spider

Golden garden spider (Argiope aurantia), an orb weaver.

John H. Gerard/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Close-up of a jumping spider crouched on a pale flower petal, facing forward with legs poised against a yellow background.

Jumping spider

Ready to pounce, a jumping spider (family Salticidae) crouches on a flower petal.

© Linas T/stock.adobe.com

A large female joro spider with yellow and black markings sits on her web, while a much smaller male joro spider is positioned above her on the same web.

Sexual dimorphism

A small, male joro spider (Trichonephila clavata) sits in the web of his...

© William Wise/Dreamstime.com

A brown nursery web spider from the Pisauridae family clings to green leaves while carrying a round white egg sac beneath its body.

Nursery-web spider

A female nursery-web spider carrying her egg sac.

© JustNatureChannel/Dreamstime.com

Protective mother

Protective mother

A female lynx spider (Hamadruas species) guarding her newly hatched offspring....

© Osoioo/Shutterstock.com

Spiderlings emerging

Spiderlings emerging

Trapdoor spiderlings (Nemesia species) emerging from their egg sac in Italy....

© FLPA/Alamy

An ambush predator

An ambush predator

A female goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia) in hiding.

AdstockRF

A silk-lined burrow

A silk-lined burrow

A California trapdoor spider (Bothriocyrtum californicum) in its burrow,...

© Dr. Paul Zahl/Science Source

Bolas spider

Bolas spider

A bolas spider (Mastophora phrynosoma) hunting prey with a sticky droplet...

© Judy Gallagher

Labyrinth spider, Agelena labyrinthica, sits inside its funnel-shaped web holding an insect prey, surrounded by webbing and green vegetation.

Funnel weaver spider

A labyrinth spider (Agelena labyrinthica) consuming prey in its silken retreat....

© Sarah2/Dreamstime.com

Close-up of a spider with a patterned abdomen weaving silk threads into its web, with the background out of focus.

Orb weaver

A close-up of an orb weaver spider constructing her web.

© Antoniocarlosforever/Dreamstime.com

Argiope spider with a yellow and black striped abdomen sits at the center of its circular web, which has a zigzag pattern, against a blurred green background.

Stabilimentum

An orb weaving Argiope spider on its web. The thick white zigzag is called...

© mirvav/stock.adobe.com

Web specialization

Web specialization

A net-casting spider (Deinopis species) is ready to throw its small web...

© Genevieve Vallee/Alamy

Brazilian wandering spider

Brazilian wandering spider

The venomous Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria nigriventer) has a bite...

Techuser

Giant huntsman spider

Giant huntsman spider

A superlative arachnid, the giant huntsman spider (Heteropoda maxima) has...

© Chris Howes—Wild Places Photography/Alamy

Wolf spider showing eye arrangement, chelicerae, and fang at end of each chelicera

Wolf spider showing eye arrangement, chelicerae, and fang at end of each chelicera

Anthony Bannister/The Natural History Photographic Agency

Burrowing spider

Burrowing spider

A burrow made by a wolf spider.

Peter

wolf spider

wolf spider

A wolf spider feeding on a centipede.

© Dr. Morley Read/Shutterstock.com

woodlouse spider

woodlouse spider

Woodlouse spider (Dysdera crocata).

Kemurshel

spider

spider

A spider (order Araneida or Araneae).

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Chart titled Diversity of arachnids comparing a Silurian fossil scorpion and 11 living groups, including spiders, scorpions, mites, daddy longlegs, sunspiders, whip scorpions, and false scorpions. Illustrations show their varied forms and typical size ranges from 0.1 millimeters to 210 millimeters; fossil anatomy labels identify pincers, pedipalps, legs, and body sections.

Arachnid diversity

A sampling of the diversity of arachnids.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Illustration showing different animals and their respiratory organs: a spider with book lungs, a chicken with lungs, a sponge with labeled inflow and outflow pores, a fish with gills, and a caterpillar with spiracles.

respiration: animals

Different methods of respiration in animals.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Illustration of a red widow spider (Latrodectus bishopi) showing its reddish legs and cephalothorax, with a black abdomen marked by red and white spots. A scale beside the spider indicates its size is about 3 centimeters or 1 inch.

Red widow spider

Illustration of a red widow spider (Latrodectus bishopi). The spider is...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Patrick O'Neill Riley

Interactives

Spiderweb infographic

Spiderweb infographic

Click on a spiderweb to learn more.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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