How Many Legs Do Spiders Have? All The Myths Busted

Anamika Balouria
Feb 07, 2023 By Anamika Balouria
Originally Published on Oct 26, 2021
Fact-checked by Pradhanya Rao
Green bottle blue tarantula spider
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Age: 3-18
Read time: 7.0 Min

A spider is a common species of insect group that can easily dwell in human environments and can cover dark corners of different families' houses with their silk webs. They are teeny, tiny insects with sticky silk webs.

A spider is a small, tiny creature whose front pedipalps are often confused with their antennae which are attached to the cephalothorax. The cephalothorax is part of the front of the two segments of a spider's body. These insects come under the category of Arachnida which are mostly known to have eight legs.

The male and female of the spider species are sexually dimorphic and have eight legs, except a few species such as the gladiator spider. This species of spider is related to the unique spider species that have six legs and are known to lose their front legs in wars or fights with their rival species.

An American house spider with striped legs is often confused with the brown recluse spider because of their venom. They are small, tiny insects known for their sticky, silk webs.

The body of the spider has two segments: the cephalothorax in the front and the abdomen in the back. The front segment usually consists of pedipalps, often confused with their antennae; eyes; and legs attached by coxa.

Web glands called spinnerets are at the back of their abdomen, which help to produce and extend silk webs. Generally, spiders are known to have eight legs in pairs, with four on each side of their bodies.

If you observe a spider, then you might see that the legs and eyes of the spider are their weapons, which enable them to prey on small insects by jumping in the air with the help of silk webs.

A few spider species, such as the Brazilian wandering spider, are known worldwide for the venom in their fangs and they are capable of using their toxic venom on humans.

They look similar to wolf spiders.

If you enjoy reading this article about how many legs a spider has, then why not read some more interesting fun facts to find out how many teeth do alligators have and how many stomachs does a horse have?

How many legs do spiders have?

In the class of arachnids, spiders have eight legs, four pairs of legs on each side of their body.

These spiders are tiny arthropods that belong to the class of arachnids. They have four pairs of legs similar to other species such as scorpions, ticks, mites, and solifuges.

The front pair of legs is known to have sensory function. According to research, every species of insect in the class arachnids has eight legs, except for the gladiator spider, which has six legs.

There are almost 45,000 species of spiders. You might even see them in and around dark corners of houses, and their limbs are known to have evolved from millions of years ago.

Every creature or species in the world has a certain unique feature of its own that makes it capable of living alongside its predators. A spider is known to explore humans' habitats. Spiders use their legs to stay protected from predators.

Many spiders have the ability to build silk webs through their special glands called spinnerets, found in the abdomen. The spider's body is divided into two parts.

One part of the body has the mouth with sometimes venomous fangs, a stomach, a brain, and glands. The spider is known to have a tiny leg-like structure near its fangs which is called pedipalps. Fangs of some spider species are also known to have venom.

A few species of insects, namely Brazilian wandering spiders, are well-known for their fangs with venom and their ability to inject poisonous venom into people. They resemble wolf spiders in appearance. Because of its poison, an American house spider with striped legs is frequently misidentified as a brown recluse.

Do all spiders have the same number of legs?

Almost all spiders have eight legs, while in a few species the front pair of legs has evolved and now has sensory function. For example, gladiator spiders have a total count of six legs.

Many times people are confused about the number of legs the spider species has. Some say spiders have 10 legs, while some say they have eight legs. The fact is that the front pair of legs is used as their hands and the other pairs of legs are used for walking for a total of eight legs.

Most adult species of arachnids have eight legs, while a few of the species' front legs either are lost to bites, in fights, or they turn into their sensory function.

Many of these insects are known to use their legs, and especially the front legs, to fight with their rival male or a female. Along with their striped legs, other parts of the spider include the cephalothorax which is the front part out of two body segments.

This segment has eyes, pedipalps (not antennae), and legs attached with sternum through coxa.

The eight legs of these arthropods also help them attack their prey for food and produce their silk webs. Different forms of spiders use their legs in many ways. For example, jumping spiders extend their legs to double the size of their bodies in the air to attack or prey on other small animals of the insect class Arachnida.

Australian Huntsman Spider on a white background

How many legs do wolf spiders have?

A wolf spider is known to have eight legs.

The wolf spider is known to have eight legs, and all the legs are attached to the front part of the body, the cephalothorax. Similar to other spider species, the front part has a mouth, fangs, and eyes.

The wolf spider also has small, tiny legs called pedipalps. The male spider is much larger than the female spider and uses its legs to prey on small flies for food, mate with females, and jump in the air by way of a silk web thread.

All eight legs are arranged in four pairs. They depend upon vibrations to sense their predators and prey.

According to some research done, it is known that Arachnida insects cannot move their legs if the cephalothorax is injured.

They can be seen crawling in such situations. With the help of their third and fourth legs, spiders' energy levels can increase around eight times more than their normal energy level after resting, and can jump 50 times their size due to an increase in the pressure of the blood in their bodies.

They can thrive on various surfaces with steep angles. Some published articles claim that having many legs can become a problem for the movement of the spider's body, which also makes them slow walkers. Many spiders are known to eat their own webs because the ingestion of silk protein will indirectly lead to the production of more silk webs.

How many legs do tarantulas have?

Tarantulas have eight legs, like other species of spiders.

Tarantulas are large spiders with hairs that belong to the family of Theraphosidae. Tarantulas' legs and body are covered with hair, and a partial part of the abdomen also has hair, which is called urticating hair.

These hairs are also known to protect them from predators. Similar to other species of spiders, tarantulas also have chelicerae and pedipalps around their mouths. Because their antennae are linked to the cephalothorax, the spider's front pedipalps are sometimes confused with antennae.

Arachnida, which are best noted for having eight legs, are the most common tiny insects in the family, but tarantulas are just the opposite. They are big spiders with long legs.

Tarantulas' chelicerae have venomous fangs. These tarantulas mostly feed on small insects, and digestive enzyme secretion is evident in them while they catch some prey in their web.

They are known to molt their hairs or exoskeleton annually. The tarantula's legs can be grown again after several molting stages.

The tarantula's legs are spread wide in a circular shape around their bodies. A few of the tarantula species found in America are not considered to be dangerous, unlike the Brazilian wandering spider, which is considered very dangerous due to it having the most active venom of any spider in the world.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for how many legs do spiders have, then why not take a look at how many teeth do sharks have, or how many teeth do snails have?

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Written by Anamika Balouria

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Bachelor of Education specializing in Secondary Education and Teaching, Master of Arts specializing in English

Anamika Balouria picture

Anamika BalouriaBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Bachelor of Education specializing in Secondary Education and Teaching, Master of Arts specializing in English

A dedicated and enthusiastic learner, Anamika is committed to the growth and development of her team and organization. She holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in English from Daulat Ram University and Indira Gandhi Institute for Open Learning respectively, as well as a Bachelor of Education from Amity University, Noida. Anamika is a skilled writer and editor with a passion for continual learning and development.
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Fact-checked by Pradhanya Rao

Bachelor of Commerce specializing in Marketing and HR

Pradhanya Rao picture

Pradhanya RaoBachelor of Commerce specializing in Marketing and HR

With a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Christ University, Bangalore, Pradhanya's passion for the English language and literature led her to explore the field of content writing, where she has gained extensive experience in writing, reviewing, editing, and fact-checking. She has also earned certifications in Google Ads Search, Google Ads Display, and Social Media Marketing, showcasing her proficiency in digital marketing.

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