Fun Pirate Spider Facts For Kids

Pirate spiders, also known as Mimetidae, are araneomorph spiders that feed on other spiders. This spider's body is yellow-brown in color and can be identified by spines or spine-like hair on its front legs or front pair of legs. These spiders belong to the orb-weaver family but do not make their own web, instead invade the webs of other spiders, hence their name. Orb-weavers are known to make circular webs. The egg sacs of the pirate spiders are different from others too. The female is known to leave the young or the offspring to fend for themselves after the eggs have hatched. These spiders feed on other spiders by hunting on their legs. Sometimes, they feed on insects too. They are also known to enclose the prey within, or between, its two front legs which have long spines. The bite is known to have venom which is dangerous to other spiders. This species has a habit of mimicking the vibrations of another insect to trick other spiders. Their hunting technique is one of the most remarkable among animals and is highly observed. These species are found in forests all around the world. It is quite interesting to learn about these members of the orb-weaver family and if you are interested, check out the wolf spider and the mouse spider too.

What type of animal is a pirate spider?

Pirate spiders are spiders.

What class of animal does a pirate spider belong to?

Pirate spiders belong to the class of Arachnida.

How many pirate spiders are there in the world?

There has been no specific number of pirate spiders in the world recorded but there exist around 3000 species of this spider.

Where does a pirate spider live?

Pirate spiders are found in forests around the globe.

What is a pirate spider's habitat?

Not much information is available about the spider's habitat but they are found in forests around the globe. Most of the population is found in tropical areas of Central and South America.

Who do pirate spiders live with?

There is not much information available about pirate spiders and thus, it is unknown if it lives alone or in groups.

How long does a pirate spider live?

The lifespan of the pirate spiders is unknown.

How do they reproduce?

Not much information is available about the reproduction of these spiders. It is known that some male mimetids in the genus Gelanor, found in South America, have large appendages which are used to inseminate females.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of these spiders is Not Extinct.

What do pirate spiders look like?

These spiders are yellow and brown in color. These spiders can be identified by rows of spine-like hair on their front legs. These hair are sort of arranged in descending order. The eye arrangement of these spiders is not considered to be diagnostic.

How cute are they?

Spiders are not considered to be cute, rather, they are considered to be gross.

How do they communicate?

Spiders, in general, are known to communicate through levels of vibrations, which is also known as seismic communication. This communication method is used when courting, warning rivals, or catching prey. Some also mimic the vibrations of insects caught to trick and catch other prey spiders.

How big is a pirate spider?

These spiders are comparatively small and are their length is around 1/8-1/4 in (3-7 mm).

How fast can a pirate spider fly?

The exact speed of pirate spiders is unknown but they are known to move slowly on low plants and leaf litter.

How much does a pirate spider weigh?

The weight of pirate spiders is unknown.

What are their male and female names of the species?

There are no specific names for males and females of this species.

What would you call a baby pirate spider?

There is no particular name for a baby of these spiders.

What do they eat?

Pirate spiders are known to eat other cobweb spiders, orb-weaver spiders, and other spiders. They stalk the web owner and attack it by biting its legs. Sometimes, feeding of some species also happens on insects.

Are they dangerous?

These spiders are dangerous to other spiders. The venom or poison of this spider is highly dangerous to other spiders but not to other animals and it is believed that these spiders are not harmful to humans.

Would they make a good pet?

While some spiders do make great pets, it is unknown if pirate spiders make good pets or not.

Did you know...

The name 'assassin spiders' is given to spiders whose poison or venom are highly dangerous to other spiders.

Pirate spiders belong to the family of orb-weavers, which are known to make prototypical circular webs but these pirate spiders have lost the ability to make webs and do not make their own webs and thus, invade the webs of other spiders.

Its name Mimetidae, meaning imitator, is due to its use of the communication method, where it mimics the vibration of an insect to trick other spiders in order to ambush them.

The egg sacs of these spiders are easily identifiable as these sacs have a long, thin stalk, and/or a fluffy coating, depending on the genus. These features help protect the eggs from parasitoids and predators.

Spiders do not sleep like humans, spiders cannot close their eyes as they do not have eyelids, but they reduce their activities and lower their metabolic activities.

Spiders also reuse their webs quite frequently, and some spiders are known to rebuild their webs every day.

The hunting technique of these spiders is very popular.

How many eyes does a pirate spider have?

Some spiders have six eyes while some have eight but the number of eyes of the spiders is always an even number.

What is the deadliest spider in the world?

Funnel-web spiders are one of the deadliest spiders in the world. It is able to kill a human in 15 minutes.  These spiders are found in moist forest regions of the east coast and highlands of Australia from Tasmania to north Queensland.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other arthropods including the Brazilian wandering spider and the darkling beetle.

You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one of our pirate spider coloring pages.