How Many Legs Does A Spider Have? Fascinating Facts You May Not Know

There are virtually 120 families and more than 45,000 different species of spiders all over the world.

Spiders belong to the family Arthropoda, class Arachnida, and order Araneae. Spiders are gorgeous creatures and produce silk, which is used to create their webs.

Spiders are found everywhere on land except Antarctica because of the cold temperature. Most people can see many different spider species in their homes. Some of them are the hunting spiders, wolf spiders, sac spiders, and tarantulas, which belong to the family of Theraphosidae.

Spiders have the characteristic features of arachnids. Arachnids are a large group of leggy animals, which include ticks, mites, and scorpions. Spiders' bodies are divided into two segments, they have eight legs, and they do not have wings.

All spiders will produce silk with their spinnerets. With the help of these glands, they produce silk, which is used to make webs and catch their prey. Some spiders have venom, which they use to kill their prey.

This venom is often harmless and not fatal to humans. They consume many pests like mosquitos, flies, and other flying bugs with the help of their venom. Spiders create webs in sheds, woodpiles, cellars, and any other isolated place, which are perfect places for catching prey.

To learn more about insects, why not take a look at how many legs do ladybugs have? And how many legs do cockroaches have?

Types Of Spiders

We often see spiders in haunted houses and horror films. Most people do not like to see spiders in their homes, but all the spiders are not as scary as they look.

A spider has eight legs, and they have only one of the extensor muscles that are in their hip joints. Spiders use various tactics to evade attackers.

We get to see and meet spiders most of the time in our life, but there are two species of spiders in western and southern parts of America that are a threat to humans. They are the brown recluse and the black widow.

Black widow spiders are black, look shiny, and have a red hourglass shape under the abdomen, whereas young ones appear white and orange. Their color changes to black as they grow.

They explore dark places and make a home of hollow trees, fire woodpiles, sheds, and barns to protect themselves. Females tend to be more aggressive than males, and they can bite to protect their eggs.

When it comes to brown recluse spiders, they are brown with dark marks on their backs. They are mainly found in the central midwest US, from Nebraska to Ohio towards south Texas and Georgia.

They are well known for their isolative behavior. They often live in woodpiles and debris outdoors, and when it comes to indoors, we can find them in closets, attics, storage, and other dark environments. Like the black widow spider, the brown recluse spider also bites.

What do spider legs look like?

Spiders belong to the class Arachnida and are called arachnids. They are not usually large, with their typical body length varying from 0.02-3.5 in (0.5-90mm). Most of them have four pairs of legs with variable sizes. When it comes to legs though, all spiders' legs are not similar.

If you see brown recluse spiders, their legs are skinny and long with a trim abdomen. Likewise, blackhouse spiders with reddish-brown legs are longer than their body, especially their front legs.

If you see the brown recluse from the side, you’ll see the body sitting low with a leg that angles up to the hip joint.

When it comes to the black widow spider, it can grow to about 1.5 in (38 mm), including the legs, however, males are generally half the size of females or even smaller. When it comes to body size, they have a small abdomen and giant legs.

Some spiders have one pair, some two pairs, and some have three pairs of eyes, whereas some spiders have no eyes at all, for example, cave-dwelling spiders. Most spiders are venomous, which is delivered via poisonous glands, and spiders use this to paralyze or kill prey, but only a few are harmful to humans.

Different spiders have distinct hunting strategies.

Passive hunters will use webs to catch their prey, while active hunters use different specialized techniques to hunt their prey. The silk produced is used for various purposes like packaging their eggs or building webs.

The Number Of Legs On Spiders

The spider's size and color are different based on region. The miniature spider can be as small as 0.15 in (0.37 mm), while the bigger ones are about 3.5 in (90 mm).

By now, if you are still wondering how many legs does a spider have? A spider has eight legs and two teeth that often inject venom. They eat tiny spiders and insects. Spiders will also use their front legs to counterattack or bully predators.

Spiders are different from insects. Most spiders don't have antennae, and they use their front pair of legs for sensory duties. There are many common species of spiders that are harmless and won't bite. Most are harmless arthropods, except some species, which we mentioned, that contain venom, which could be enough to kill a human.

Do all spiders have the same number of legs?

Brown spiders are eight-legged arachnids that live in houses. Spiders have muscles that spread to each leg, and each leg is divided into seven parts. Spiders extend their legs with the help of hydraulic pressure. Spiders can jump up to 50 times their length by increasing their blood pressure, and with the help of their four pairs of legs.

While walking, they use their eight legs to assault and pin their prey while distributing venom from their fangs.

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 legs do scorpions have? Or wolf spider facts.