Search Results for: Arachnid

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128 results
  1. photo of silkworm cocoons
    Life

    A metal ion bath may make fibers stronger than spider silk

    The work is the latest in a decades-long quest to create artificial fibers as strong, lightweight and biodegradable as spider silk.

    By Meghan Rosen
  2. Dozens of tiny Delena huntsman spiderlings in or near their white egg sac, surrounded by their much larger, red-legged mother.
    Animals

    These huntsman spiders do something weird: live together as a big, happy family

    Five unusual species of spider moms let youngsters live at home way past the cute waddling baby phase.

    By Susan Milius
  3. A banded sugar ant caught by an Australian ant-slayer spider
    Animals

    This spider literally flips for its food

    The Australian ant-slayer spider’s acrobatics let it feast on insects twice its size, a new study shows,

    By Freda Kreier
  4. a fossil spider, with an inset showing the fossil in ultraviolet light that revealed a substance possibly produced by diatoms
    Paleontology

    Glowing spider fossils may exist thanks to tiny algae’s goo 

    Analyzing 22-million-year-old spider fossils from France revealed that they were covered in a tarry black substance that fluoresces.

    By Carolyn Gramling
  5. photo of a black and yellow female jorō spider
    Animals

    Invasive jorō spiders get huge and flashy — if they’re female

    Taking the pulse (literally) of female jorō spiders hints that the arachnid might push farther north than a relative that has stayed put in the South.

    By Susan Milius
  6. a tarantula poking its legs out of a hollowed-out bamboo stem
    Animals

    This newfound tarantula is the first known to make its home in bamboo

    Bamboo stems provide the spider with ready-made burrows and nests, but the arachnid must rely on other animals or natural forces to gain entry.

    By Becki Robins
  7. image of male and female orb spiders mating
    Animals

    These male spiders catapult away to avoid being cannibalized after sex

    In a leap for survival, male Philoponella prominens spiders leverage hydraulic pressure to extend leg joints and fling themselves off hungry females.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús

  8. A new Science News for the young people in your life

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute introduces Science News Explores, our new print magazine for young people.

    By Nancy Shute
  9. A Misonne’s spider geckos standing on sandy ground
    Animals

    Here’s how spider geckos survive on Earth’s hottest landscape

    An analysis of the stomach contents of Misonne’s spider geckos shows there are more critters in the heart of Iran’s Lut Desert than meets the eye.

    By Jude Coleman
  10. image of a Stenolemus bituberus assassin bug
    Animals

    Assassin bugs tap spiders to distract them before a lethal strike

    Some assassin bugs stroke their antennae on spiders when within striking distance, possibly imitating touches that spiders experience near their kin.

    By Jake Buehler
  11. A brown widow spider crawling along a garter snake trapped in its web against a white wall
    Animals

    Snake-eating spiders are surprisingly common

    Spiders from at least 11 families feed on serpents many times their size, employing a host of tactics to turn even venomous snakes into soup.

    By Asher Jones
  12. European fire ants
    Life

    European fire ant chemicals may send spiders scurrying away

    Black widows and some other common spider species avoid spaces where fire ants once roamed, suggesting the insects could inspire a spider repellent.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús