What type of spider is really fast

Advanced Search International Search. Spiders Identify Common Spider Species Spiders often appear in horror movies, haunted houses and, worst of all, inside our homes where they are usually met with shrieking and the bottom of a shoe. Black Widow Spiders Appearance: Black widows are black and shiny, with a telltale red hourglass shape on the underside of their abdomen. Young black widow spiders appear orange and white, becoming darker and more black in color as they age. Region: This spider species is found throughout United States, but is most common in the southern regions where the temperature is warmer.

Habitat: Black widow spiders tend to seek out dry and dark locations that are protected, such as underneath stones or decks, as well as in hollow tree stumps and in firewood piles. They can also be found in man-made structures such as sheds and barns. Black widow spiders spin their webs near ground level. Threat: While male black widow spiders rarely bite, females are known to be aggressive and bite in defense, especially when guarding eggs.

Symptoms of a black widow bite include fever, increased blood pressure, sweating and nausea. Pain from a bite typically reaches a maximum in hours. Fatalities are unlikely, as long as proper medical treatment is sought in a timely manner. Unique Facts: Black widow spiders are named after the popular belief that females eat their male counterparts after mating. However, this is a rare occurrence in the natural world.

Brown Recluse Spiders Appearance: Brown recluse spiders are light to dark brown, with a characteristic dark brown violin marking on their back. Region: This species is found in the central Midwest U. Habitat: Well known for their secretive or "reclusive" behavior, brown recluse spiders often live outdoors in debris and woodpiles.

Indoors, they can be found under furniture, inside storage items and in dark recesses such as baseboards and window moldings. Closets, attics and crawlspaces are the most common hiding places of brown recluse spiders, as they provide warm, dry and dark environments. Spiders live among us in almost every conceivable habitat.

Their ecological role, one that benefits us, is as the ultimate predators of insects. In turn, they are a food source for many animals, forming an important link in the food chain.

Evolution has equipped spiders with a myriad of techniques for capturing insect prey: jumping spiders leap, crab spiders ambush, wolf spiders give chase and web-weaving spiders entrap.

The earliest spider fossils date back million years, and the creatures probably developed at least million years before that, during the Devonian period. No other group of animals has been hunting insects so efficiently for so long. Although feared by many, Ontario spiders are generally not dangerous and hardly ever bite humans.

Most spiders use venom, delivered from an opening in their chelicerae jaws , to subdue and predigest prey. In Ontario, however, only the rare and shy northern widow spider Lactrodectus variolus is considered dangerous to people.

Even from this species, a bite is very unlikely to be fatal. Both insects and spiders are arthropods invertebrates with jointed legs.

Insects form one class of arthropods, while spiders are an order — a level that is subordinate to a class — of arachnids. Other arachnids include harvestmen daddy-long-legs , scorpions, ticks and mites. Spiders differ from insects in having eight rather than six legs, simple rather than compound eyes, two main body parts abdomen and cephalothorax — a fused head and thorax instead of three, no antennae and, of course, no wings. In Ontario, the best time for observing spiders is from late spring to early fall.

Early morning dew or frost reveals webs that are nearly invisible at other times. Some adult spiders do not live past the fall season, while others overwinter under bark, in leaf litter or in other shelters.

Yet some spiders can be observed year-round. Yellow sac spiders Cheiracanthium mildei , longbodied cellar spiders Pholcus phalangioides and others share our homes, egg cases can be found on buildings and vegetation, and thinlegged wolf spiders Pardosa spp.

Researchers have discovered astonishingly high densities of spiders in certain habitats. For example, a British researcher once estimated a total of about 5. These myriad of spiders are quite diverse. Closer to home, more than species, representing 35 families, have been found in our province, and these numbers continue to grow as new spiders are reported. Spiders can be daunting to identify. The colour of a species is often quite variable even when mature, while immature spiders are often very different than adults.

Males and females of the same species may be similar or quite different in coloration and size. Males are slightly or much smaller than females. The pedipalps of the males resemble boxing gloves for transferring sperm. Learning family characteristics helps greatly. Among web-weavers, the type or location of web often distinguishes the family. Some species are so distinctly marked that identification in the field is easy. The following guide, of course, is not comprehensive.

Instead, an effort has been made to choose species and families to represent the following: first, commonly observed spiders; second, distinctive and dramatic species; and third, examples of some unusual families that make our arachnofauna so diverse and interesting. Their spiralling orbs with strong support lines make a highly effective insect snare.

From start to finish a web, which can contain up to 20 metres of silk and 1, to 1, connections, may be created in a mere 30 minutes. Remarkably, an orb weaver spider can weigh more than 1, times the weight of the web on which it lives. Orb weavers will eat and remake webs every few days — or sometimes daily — recycling 90 percent of the silk used for the original web.

Orb weavers rotate trapped insects with their forelegs while their hind legs pull out silk from the spinnerets to wrap the victim. The body length of females cephalothorax and abdomen ranges from 19 — 28 millimetres; males are much smaller, at five to nine millimetres. Silver hairs adorn the upper half of the cephalothorax, while the black, egg-shaped abdomen has striking yellow markings. The legs are pale at the base, and darker towards the tips.

The much smaller male is pale, sometimes orangeish. Description : This is a large orb weaver. Females are 15 — 25 millimetres; males are 4 — 5. The celphalothorax is silver, while the abdomen is crossed with silver, black and yellow bands. The legs are pale yellowish-orange banded with black. Range : In many places throughout the world cosmopolitan distribution , including across southern Canada and the United States.

The female ranges from 7 — 20 millimetres; the male from 6 — 13 millimetres. The dorsal abdomen shows white spots that form the shape of a cross. There is a darker patch on the posterior half of the abdomen. The legs are banded light and dark. Range : Introduced from Europe to North America at least years ago, where it is now present in south-eastern Canada including Ontario and the west including British Columbia. Trivia : The cross orbweaver spider called the garden spider in Europe was venerated in the Middle Ages due to the dotted cross on its back.

Description : A medium-sized orbweaver. Females range from 6. The cephalothorax is shiny brown. The legs are banded tan and brown. Habitat : Very common beside bodies of water, especially lakeshores, also often on buildings. Trivia : This species sits on its web at night, hiding in a retreat such as a folded leaf or crevice during the day. Females range from 8 — 14 millimetres, males from 6 — 7 millimetres. The cephalothorax is dark with thin white lines along the edge created by hairs.

The legs are banded dark and light. Habitat : Most often found on human structures, such as on windows or around lights on buildings, and of course on bridges. Probably introduced from Europe, this species seems to prefer attaching its web to metal, brick or other non-natural material. Description : A large orbweaver. Female 9 — 20 millimetres, male 5 — 8 millimetres. The cephalothorax is pale with one median and two lateral broad dark lines.

The legs are strongly banded dark and pale. The abdomen base colour varies, often cream-coloured but also red, yellow and green are possible. The abdomen has a profusion of light spots of varying sizes. The male has a cream-coloured abdomen, with a reddish cephalothorax and darkly banded legs. Habitat : Prefers open areas, such as meadows, swamps and marshes, especially if damp. Trivia : Shamrock spiders can change their abdomen colour to match their surroundings, with the red form often being found among red leaves in autumn.

Females range from 7 — 15 millimetres, males from 5 — 8 millimetres. Even its two lateral side eyes are set on points. Varying brown shades and bristles give this spider a burr-like appearance. Trivia : Disturbance will often make this species drop quickly to the ground, where its superb camouflage makes the spider very difficult to find.

Description : This is a small orbweaver. Females range from 5 to 7. The cephalothorax is dark brown. The abdomen is white with various brown patterns, and has a distinctive lobe extending from its posterior which accounts for part of its common name.

The legs are pale brown. This family constructs orb webs, but these are usually angled greatly from vertical and may even be nearly horizontal. Tetragnathids are long, slender spiders with prominent chelicerae jaws that are two-thirds the length of — or longer than — the cephalothorax. These spiders hide in grass, extending their long first, second and fourth pairs of legs lengthwise while clinging to blades of grass with their much shorter third pair of legs. Their webs are small- to medium-sized orbs with few radiating supports and are usually suspended at an angle between branches of shrubs.

The small eyes are arranged in two rows. These spiders can be very difficult to identify to the species level. The orchard spider is an exception to this, but identifying others to the genus level in the field is sometimes best e.

Tetragnatha sp. Description : A medium-sized spider. Females are 5 — 9 millimetres; males 4 — 7 millimetres. Its abdomen is most often silvery white, sometimes tinged with yellow and marked with a longitudinal darker patch.

The abdomen is less elongated compared to many other members of its genus Tetragnatha. The cephalothorax and legs appear shiny brown. Trivia : Because of its poor vision, this spider often keeps to one side of its web with one leg touching a supporting line to sense the vibrations of a trapped insect. If disturbed, the spider will drop to the ground out of sight.

Description : A medium-sized spider, female 4 — 8 millimetres, male 3 — 5 millimetres. Its legs are green, the cephalothorax is light brown, while the white abdomen is patterned with black and green lines, and yellow and reddish patches. One green line forms a circle around the abdomen, which encloses a central line with backwards angling branches. This is a strikingly beautiful spider. Their abdomen is very large and globular, and they have very long legs.

A comb of curved bristles setae on their back pair of legs is used to throw silk strands over insect prey that has become entangled in the web. Once the prey is subdued, the cobweb weaver injects venom, drags it further into the web and sucks the juices from its prey. The eyes are arranged in a fairly tight group, making a rather narrow horizontal oval. Description : A medium to large cobweb weaver. Females range from 5 — 7 millimetres, males from 4 — 6 millimetres. The cephalothorax is mid-brown to tan.

The large and globular abdomen varies greatly in colour, but is often pale with many dark spots and swirls, giving it a mottled appearance. Some specimens may be overall dark or pale. The joints of the legs are dark. Males may have a reddish tinge. Habitat : Usually encountered inside or on the exterior of buildings, often in corners. Seasonality : Indoors year-round; outdoors spring to mid-fall in Ontario. Tear-drop-shaped egg cases are visible on building exteriors through the winter.

Description : This species is among the largest cobweb weavers. Females, at 12 to 16 millimetres in length, are significantly larger than males, at 10 to 12 millimetres, although the males possess longer legs and narrower abdomens.

Habitat : Northern black widows spin messy webs on stumps or logs, under stones, in holes and occasionally in barns and rural privies. What they look like: There are more than species of these, and they all look a little different.

Not really. What they look like: The spider will build a tent-like structure out of silk. What they look like: These are the spiders that build huge webs that you can see in the morning covered in dew. However, there are tons of species and some can be difficult to distinguish from other spiders. They may build webs on decks or the exterior of your house, especially if you have outside lighting which attracts the flying insects they like to eat.

It can be confused with the brown recluse, but grass spiders have long spinnerets finger-like appendages at the end of the abdomen , which the brown recluse does not have, he says.

Weight Loss. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Although for now, Wood and her colleagues know that it exceeds the known power output of muscles, implying that some other structure must be responsible for releasing all of that stored energy. Simply finding enough Mecysmaucheniidae spiders to undertake the study was quite an accomplishment—much less pulling off the technical work needed to analyze their anatomy and high-speed behaviors, says Jeffrey Shultz , an arachnologist at the University of Maryland at College Park who was not involved in the work.

That is a question Wood hopes to answer in future studies, although she already has a hunch. The smaller spiders seem to prefer a diet of springtails —very fast insects that rapidly jump to escape predators. It could be that the quickest trap-jaw spiders evolved their lightning-fast attack so that they could target this speedier prey. The Chilarchaea quellon trap-jaw spider can snap its long chelicerae shut in about a quarter of a millisecond.